Even If the World Says No
by just-beginning
Summary: It wasn't what she came for and wasn't what he expected. If she can continue to just accept him, and if he can stop letting uncertainty take over, they'll be fine. But, like all things, it may take some adjusting and getting used to.. Vince/OFC
1. Guys Like You

**So i started this storyline a while ago and then found the file again on my computer and decided to run with it again; I've actually gotten pretty caught up in it. So i edited some old stuff and continued on from there. I've gotten kind of far and i think it's going in a good direction right now, but i really like feedback so reviews are so VERY welcome**

**Enjoy**

**_EVEN IF THE WORLD SAYS NO_**

"When your heart says yes but the world says no, don't ever give up." -A Walk to Remember

* * *

**Guys Like You**

_Everything's going to be alright_

_People keep talking, they can say what they like_

_But all I know is everything's going to be alright_

_**-No One by Alicia Keys**_

Gabrielle Hammons pulled the covers closer around her, ready to drift back into the sleep that was almost taking over. She frowned; since when was there only a sheet and a comforter? It annoyed her that she must've kicked a few blankets away In the night, but she refused to open her eyes and look for them. Instead, she cuddled back into her pillows.

….that _was_ a pillow, right?

No. No, pillows most definitely do not have arms.

Her heart racing harder than she figured healthy, she opened her tired eyes. Sure enough, another body was next to her. One look under the sheet told her she was, indeed, naked.

And then the bed's owner made some small noise in his sleep, rolling over and wrapping an arm around her automatically. She froze but he didn't seem like he was going to wake just yet, which was probably for the best; she needed a few minutes to wrap her mind around this. This was big -- huge, even -- because she didn't even need to see his face to know who she was with. Hardly a glimpse at his tattooed arms and she knew it was Vince.

And just who was Gabrielle Hammons?f

She'd moved into 'the Fort' during the previous year, after her first college semester. It saved her money on room and board; besides, she couldn't let her cousin and friends keep suffering. Well, maybe they weren't exactly suffering, but they were pretty frazzled.

Her cousin, Leon, and his long-time best friend Jesse had moved into the Toretto house a year and a few months ago. Dominic Toretto had been sent to jail almost two years ago now, and it had taken the household a lot of work to get back on it's feet. Vince had been the only one working a full-time job, but Letty dropped being a part-time student to work full-time at the shop. Vince wasn't pleased but did welcome the money, and they all suspected Letty would've preferred this all along anyway. Still, it wasn't a lot of money, with Mia in high school and not contributing, so Leon and Jesse were more than happy to leave their apartment and come to chip-in on the payments.

So money was alright now, but the house was a little all-over-the-place. Mia had just turned 17 and had teenage things to do and, even with Letty there, it might as well have been a house of men. No one cooked reliably, cleaned readily, and they were all concerned with just getting by. Gabrielle was no miracle-worker and was only a 19-year-old student herself, but she had time and maternal sense enough to make sure there was always fresh food in the house, relatively clean living space, and enough clean clothes for the guys to make it. It might seem lame, and it was simple enough for her -- after all, she lived there, now, so she wanted things to be nice -- but it made enough difference that she stayed. She'd been doing these same kinds of things for herself for years, so it wasn't hard to expand and do it for more people.

She now lived in Leon's old room and he and Jesse shared a room; those two, she, and Vince were all in the basement. Leon had invited her on behalf of everyone. Leon, her cousin she loved more than basically any other family. Leon, whose best friend she'd just slept with…

She couldn't get her heart under control; she felt panicky. His arm was around her, now; she couldn't sneak away…

"Vince…"

"Mmm…shhh…" he mumbled, pulling her closer.

"Vince," she repeated, voice shaky. "Vince, come on," she pleaded, shaking her shoulder gently.

He groaned in a way she knew from experience meant he was annoyed; probably because he was tired and might have a little bit of a hangover. Gabrielle thought she was going to have to bug him some more, but he shifted a little and slowly opened his eyes.

They just kind of stared at each other, both processing their memories of the night before. Small hands roaming, larger hands grabbing. Their mouths had explored each other as well, licking and tasting. Groans, gasps, and small, soft cries had rent the air; they could only hope they hadn't been overheard.

Vince had been on edge lately because Dominic was coming home in two weeks and Gabrielle had had a bad week, so when she came home to him drinking by himself she thought it'd be a good idea to join in -- her age was disregarded if she was staying in. Who knows what possessed them to move themselves to his room, but that's where their clothes had come off. They'd done this without even being completely wasted…but that only meant that they were both frustrated and looking for comfort, right?

"Gabe…"

He blinked at her slowly, probably looking for some kind of reaction. She just shifted uncomfortably under his stare and secured the street around herself.

"You, um…remember?" she asked awkwardly, unsure how to handle the situation; she'd never been in anything like this.

"Yea," he answered quickly.

Gabe really wished he'd keep talking. She knew he'd done this more than once -- a random hook-up. Granted, probably not with a friend and relative of one of his closest guy friends, but he'd experienced this "morning after" before.

"Ummm…"

She didn't want to cry. She was desperate not to, but she was feeling overwhelmed. She was controlling her breathing to calm down, but she was feeling worse the longer they laid there.

"Gabe, hey…" Vince encouraged after a little while, shaking the arm around her so she'd look at him.

He looked curious, trying to assess her.

"…I've never done this before…"

He nodded slowly, unsurprised with the news.

"…we should probably talk about it with clothes on," he suggested.

Gabrielle nodded quickly, almost missing the heat when he rolled over and untangled from the blanket to get himself clothes. She looked away and sat up, trying to spot her own clothes. Her bra was near the bed and her t-shirt near the door, so she pulled these on first, snatching her shorts from near the end of the bed, looking around for her panties.

Vince had been trying not to watch for her sake, but stole some glances. Maybe it was wrong but he'd always thought she was hot, so he couldn't help it.

"What?" he frowned, looking over his shoulder to see she still wasn't all dressed.

"Ummm…I don't know where my underwear are," she explained sheepishly, tugging her shirt down to cover herself, trying not to notice he was shirtless; she felt kind of dirty just stating her problem like that...or having the problem in the first place.

"Do you seriously _need_ them right now?" he snapped without meaning to, wincing inwardly.

"Uh, yea…yea, you're right," she nodded, pulling her shorts on quickly.

"Look…"

"I'm gonna take a shower or something," she announced before he could finish; she just wanted to get her head together.

He didn't protest and she slipped out, thanking the Lord Leon and Jesse had partied so they'd be sleeping-in. No one was there to see her as she hurried over to her room, which was in the basement with the three guys. She grabbed a change of clothes and padded back over the worn carpet to the bathroom.

The water was hot but she enjoyed it, scrubbing herself down, feeling so much better as she did so. It woke her up and she felt much fresher. It wasn't Vince; she had no problem with Vince. In many respects, she had no real problem with sleeping with him, either, except that it was just some random, fluke, thing. First of all, she'd never hooked-up like that before. Plus, Vince was a good friend and someone she lived with. Okay, so he was also someone she had an intolerable crush on, and this was all very embarrassing for her. Would she ever be able to look at him again? She was going on 20 but she was suddenly feeling a lot younger. She didn't know what to do and who was there -- really -- to talk about _this_ with? So awkward.

Her time in the shower started getting slightly excessive, so she cut it off and dried herself, dressing in jeans and a white t-shirt. She surveyed herself in the mirror very closely, making sure there were no visible marks of the previous night. There was a small hickey on her collar bone and a soft red mark on her side from his teeth, but both were easily covered by her shirt. Satisfied, she towel-dried her auburn hair and pulled it up in a damp, messy bun.

Back in her room, she tossed her old clothes in the hamper and almost immediately noticed her black, red-trimmed panties from the previous day sitting nicely on the corner of her bed.

"They were on _my_ side of the bed"

Vince was now leaning in the doorway, surprising her with his quiet entrance. His bulky form filled most of her doorway and she had to push away thought of parts of said body filling anything else of hers.

"Thanks"

"Well they're yours"

"Yea…"

"I'm kidding, Gabe," he sighed.

Gabe nodded but looked away, diverting her eyes from him.

"So I dunno if you wanna talk right _now_ but I gotta know…earlier, when you said you'd never done this before or whatever. You just meant…well, you didn't mean you were a virgin, did you?" he asked a little awkwardly.

"Oh…no. There was a guy in high school a couple times," she muttered.

"Okay, I just wanted to know cuz, ya know, your first time shouldn't have been like that"

"Don't worry"

He nodded and heaved a sigh.

"So I'm at least better than this other punk, right?" he inquired, smirking.

Gabrielle blushed and nodded with a tiny smile, still unwilling to look at him for long. Vince grinned a bit but sobered up again pretty quickly.

"Look," he sighed, stepping through the doorway. "I'm older, I'm more…experienced. Whatever. This is _my_ fault."

"…fault?"

"_Not_ fault," he corrected quickly. "I'm…responsible. I should've known better, that's all, ya know? I don't want you to feel --"

"I wouldn't have let you if I didn't want to," Gabe spoke up, stopping him.

"Still. We'd been drinking a little. I feel like I took advantage just because…" he sighed again, trailing off.

"Because what?" Gabe frowned, unsure if she liked where this could go -- just because she was there?

"I don't want you to think I don't care or it was just another random fuck or somethin'. I don't look at you like that," he muttered, feeling very awkward talking like this.

"…then how _do_ look at me?" she inquired, stealing herself for his response.

Vince blanked. He hadn't expected this, especially since she was all shy and quiet right now. He'd figured she'd just nod and let him leave ASAP.

"You just…mean more than that," he ventured with a shrug.

Gabe frowned, unsure what this really meant and how she should be taking his words. Did she mean more because she was a friend and cooked and helped get the groceries, or because he _liked_ her? The later was probably wishful thinking, but it caused uncertainty nonetheless.

"You… …" he groaned and ran a hand through his already-messy hair, looking for his words, "make me feel good, you know? Like you actually care."

"I do care"

"See? That's not something that happens often….at least to me. So that makes me care about you even more. I'm supposed to be lookin' out for you and instead I -- I'm suppose to keep you away form guys like me," he told her, clearly upset with himself.

"Guys like you?"

"Yea. Player, drinker, racer, temper…take your pick," he told her obviously.

"But you're more than that, Vince; you've changed _so_ much since Dom…has been gone. You've grown up a lot, you're taking care of everyone. Mia and Letter were both a mess when he got sent away; you're the one who pulled everyone together," she reminded him. "Don't sell yourself short. It's why I like you."

She hadn't really thought her last sentence through completely, but Vince caught it and was eyeing her very carefully. Now _she_ was the one with uncertainty in her words and _he_ had the questions on his mind.

"Ah, my favorite cousin's up…waffles? …please?"

After a minute or two of Vince and Gabe just staring at each other, Leon popped up in the doorway, looking between tired and alert.

"Ummm…sure," she agreed quickly, startled by his appearance.

"Alright, good…and put your unmentionables away. Vince might notice and get all hot and bothered," Leon added before calling over to Jesse that they'd be getting waffles; it was past noon, but breakfast never line-up with proper morning hours on the weekends in their house.

Gabe threw the underwear in her hamper, a blush invading her face, before Leon faced the room again.

"Sup with you two?" he asked the pair, looking between them.

"Nothin', just talking," Vince shrugged.

"Good. Then you can start the food now."

"Maybe I don't want to"

"Gabrielle Hammon's, don't make me make you…I'm older and bigger; I can do it," Leon tried to threaten.

"I'm joking. Don't be such a baby…and go shower or something; how late were you out yesterday?"

"Eh, not that late…you two and Mia were nowhere to be found, though, so I guess pretty late," he shrugged.

"Mia stayed over at a friend's but, yea, we weren't up late -- at least I wasn't."

"Hit the sack early, too," Vince nodded, rubbing his hands over his face.

"You gotta chill, dawg. Stop stressin' about Dom comin' back. Things'll be cool," Leon assured him, clapping his shoulder. "Well, they'll be cool if I have waffles _some_ time soon."

"Yea, yea. Go shower," she ordered, rolling her eyes at his antics and pushing both men from her room before going upstairs.

Letty was, surprisingly enough, awake and sitting at the table with coffee in front of her.

"Morning"

"Sup girl?" she greeted with a short nod.

"Nothing out of the ordinary; what're you doing up?' she asked, glancing over when Vince stomped upstairs and all the way to the top floor for the bathroom; the main floor had no shower.

"I dunno; haven't been sleeping great. Dom's back in two weeks. Just two. It seems like it's been forever. I want him to come back, don't go getting it twisted, but I don't think it'll seem real. Plus, I'm nervous," she rambled.

Letty and Dominic had been on the rocks, as far as their relationship was concerned, when he beat up Linder and was sent to Lompoc. She was paranoid he wouldn't want her anymore, or something, and fretted about it whenever she thought about him coming home.

"Letty, you know that's not gonna happen."

"Yea, yea"

It was the one bad thing about Dom not letting anyone come visit -- except Vince a couple times. He rarely wrote, either, just to say he was alive and safe and missed them. It was good because Mia and Letty didn't belong at a prison, but, still, they missed him so much it hurt.

Letty wallowed in her thoughts and Gabe kept cooking. It was a good thing she didn't mind working in the kitchen, really, because the guys loved fresh cooked meals; they grilled, though, so it was a pretty fair trade in the summer and spring. The waffles were nearly done when Vince hurried down the stairs in just a towel, heading straight to the basement to change.

"Ugh! V, get clothes on!" Letty complained, happy for any kind of distraction of her own mind. "Yea, and I saw you tryin' not to look," she added once he'd been gone a few moments.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Gabe denied, though she had taken notice of his bare body, still slightly damp looking and his hair wet and sticking out and around.

"Shut up…are you _crushing_ on him?" Letty asked, intrigued.

"No," she denied half-heartedly.

"Awww, girl," Letty chuckled. "You're lookin' at him the way I used to look at Dom, like you don't want him to notice but, really, you do…"

"Shut up"

Footsteps were pounding up the stairs now and Gabe gave Letty a look before Leon appeared with wet hair and an appetite. Vince was next and Jesse was last, still looking half-asleep. They were all hungry, though, and willing to eat as much food as she'd push in front of them. She didn't meet Vince's eyes and he never addressed her directly.

* * *

**Well that's the end of that chapter. I don't know what you think as far as too long or too short...some other chapters are pretty long right now and i don't know if i should try and change that or just let them be...i'll figure it out when i get there i guess; i'm a longer-chapter kind of gal usually.**

**Anyway, letting me know what you think would be a great idea.**

**REVIEW!! **

**More reviews more/quicker updates!**


	2. You What?

**Yay, chapter 2. I'm SO glad you guys liked the first one and i LOVED hearing some feedback for it...i'm always nervous about making an OC cuz i don't want them to seem unreal or something.**

**So i was iffy about this chap just cuz when i started this i had more between ch. 1 and this but then i changed it and put parts of chaps together...i waffled a bit about which i liked better, so hopefully it's good this way! ...and it's kind of long but i decided to put a part back in that i originally took out...i'll explain at the end.**

**Enjoy**

**

* * *

****You What?**

_"It's hard to wait around for something you know might never happen, but it's even harder to give up, especially when it's everything you want_."

- TFATF -

Dom was coming home that day; he'd be at the house any minute now. Vince had gone to pick him up. Just Vince -- even being released, Dom didn't want anyone else to be at the prison. It made sense but the house was on edge, mostly Mia and Letty. Leon and Jesse were more collected about it, and Gabe hadn't been exceptionally close to him –he'd always made her a little nervous – but she was happy all the same.

As far as Vince was concerned….well, maybe he wasn't a concern at all. They hadn't talked about _it_ or much of anything, really. He kept touching her, though. It was little things that were totally inconspicuous, like touching her elbow or touching her back as he passed behind her. She wasn't 100 percent sure if it was a new development or something she just never noticed before, but she was more inclined to the former. It was like he was testing her out, seeing if it was alright.

With all of the confusion from the not-talking and all the tension in the house, Gabrielle had been happy to spend more time with her teammates. She played softball and it was that time of year again. Conditioning. She didn't play for her school anymore so she had more time for a life, but played on a competitive summer league.

"Ahhh!"

"Jesus, Mia!" Jesse hissed, jumping from where he was sitting playing video games when Mia had screamed and dashed outside after hearing Vince pull up.

By the time she was out to the car, Dom had stepped out and caught her around the waist in a hug, spinning her around. They looked each other over with smiles they seemed unable to wipe-off. Letty was the next one out the door but was shier than Mia once she got to Dom; he just grabbed and kissed her deeply as he held her close.

"Damn," Leon whispered, nudging Gabe lightly with his elbow, smirking

"Grow up"

"You first," Leon teased, meeting Dom at the bottom of the porch steps for a quick, manly hug.

Jesse was next and then Gabrielle got a one-armed hug, his arm lingering around her neck. She was a little surprised, to say the least. She'd known him a little before but he was bigger now and that plus the knowledge he'd been in prison was enough to intimidate her a little. A hug from him right off the bat was just more than she'd counted on.

"Heard you been helpin' look after everybody," he told her in a voice deeper than she 

remembered.

Ah, yes, food.

"Yea, I think they'd live on pizza and beer and wear dirty clothes everyday or something I wasn't around to keep them in check," she joked.

"So you wanna cook dinner tonight, right? Please?"

"Since you asked nicely"

"_That's_ what I like to hear," he grinned, messing up her hair before ushering her towards the kitchen.

She found something strange in the fact she was joking with a man who'd done hard time for nearly beating a man to death; maybe it was because she knew her parents were disapproving of him. It was odd because, looking at him now while he caught up with his friends and took it easy in the living room, he seemed more controlled and content than a man who'd almost killed someone.

She shrugged off the thoughts and started digging around the kitchen to find something that sounded good; since guys liked anything, it was rarely helpful to ask them what sounded good. At first it had seemed overwhelming cooking for a house full of people instead of just herself, but she caught on quick for the simple fact that she had to or put up with bitching.

Hours later, everyone was lounged around in the living room, stomachs full of lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. The guys had suggested a party at a friend's, but Dominic said all he wanted to do was be with his best friends for the first night or couple days of being back, which was understandable. So, they were sitting around with the TV on, drinking and catching up. It was a little more anticlimactic than Gabe had counted but it was nice; she'd envisioned something big happening for some odd reason.

"Well, I'm gonna beat it. I have to get up early tomorrow, so don't be obnoxious when you come downstairs," Gabrielle requested, standing from the couch and stretching.

"Yea, yea"

"Night"

"Thanks for dinner"

Gabrielle nodded and disappeared downstairs, changing and washing-up to get ready to crawl into bed.

"Hey"

Gabe turned quickly, finding Vince in her doorway, leaning on the doorframe.

"…hi…"

"…you doin' alright?" he asked, surveying her up and down.

"Yea…"

"Good…sorry I haven't been around ya a lot or seen and talked to you or whatever. I've been real preoccupied gettin' shit figured out for Dom and everything," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"It's okay; I've been out of the house a lot, too," she nodded, tugging on her shorts a bit.

"Because of me?"

"I guess that was a little bit of it," she admitted, since _he_ was being open with _her_. "I'm just embarrassed from what I said…"

"Why? Cuz you didn't mean it?" he asked, eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing way.

"…ummm, no, that's not it," she mumbled. "I just didn't mean to spit it out like that cuz it's embarrassing but I can't help it," she sighed, horribly hesitant to say this.

"… … … me either"

Gabrielle met his eye and tried to read him, but he wasn't giving much away.

"So what does this mean?" she asked, unsure what was next.

"Whatever you want it to mean. You know me….so I ain't gonna push you into trying to start something cuz you're the one who's gotta decide if _you_ can put up with _me_," he told her grimly, having thought all of this through thoroughly; they both knew he had a bad rep, and he couldn't let this turn into one of those fucked-up flings so he'd rehearsed this in hopes of not screwing up. "The only things is that, uh…I don't want to have put you in the position where you think you need to give it a try _just_ cuz we drank and had sex a--"

"You _**what**_?!"

Neither had noticed Leon's approach but he was now downstairs by her room."Leon…" Gabe sighed, thinking of how to head this off.

"Tell me I'm _not_ hearing this…" he demanded, face hard.

"Look--" Vince started, unsure where he would've gone with it even if Leon didn't interrupt him.

"You took advantage of her!?" Leon accused, punching Vince in the jaw.

"Leon!"

Both men were quickly on the floor after Leon barreled over the marginally larger man.

"Stop it! Grow up and get off!"

"Stay out of it, Gabe," Vince grunted, receiving a punch in the side.

Leon was currently on top of him but Vince got an arm over his neck in a backwards headlock, trying to ward-off fists.

"Take it easy, Le"

"Fuck you! What the hell's wrong with you?!"

"Leon, cut it out!" she ordered, not that she honestly thought it would make much of a difference.

It didn't.

"What the _fuck_ is going on?"

Dom was now in the basement, the others hot on his heels.

"Break them up"

"Get him off," Vince growled, pushing at Leon's arm.

Dom hefted Leon away, holding him back just in case while Vince picked himself up off the ground. Leon continued to glare daggers but didn't seem inclined to make more of a scene.

"Who's explaining? Gabe?" Dom tried, looking for an honest story and assuming she'd break easiest.

Gabrielle said nothing, unwilling to tell the whole house the intimate details of her private life.

"Dom, it ain't your business, man," Vince spoke-up for her.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, bro"

Dom looked like **he** wanted to punch Vince then, and Gabe was scared for a moment. This was his house and he looked ready to hand out a beating to someone. _Now_, for the moment, he looked like a guy who'd done time.

"Leon--"

"Yea, Gabe, we gotta talk," Leon nodded curtly before she could finish, grabbing her arm to cart her up and out to his car; he took off silently, speeding them away.

"Leon, say something," Gabe sighed grabbing the door for a too-sharp turn. "Stop it!"

"Sorry…I'm just so…so…ugh!"

"Don't be so mad at him; it takes two, you know"

"Gabe, I don't_ even_ want to think about that," Leon groaned. "I'm supposed to take care of you…"

"And you are. I'm doing just fine."

"With _Vince_? Oh, please. Gabe, come on, we both know you can do so much better," he insisted.

"Better than what? Besides Jesse, Vince is you best friend"

"_Used_ to be"

"Leon!"

"Okay, he still is. Whatever. That doesn't mean he's good for you," Leon argued, flustered.

"Why? Don't you trust him?"

"As my friend, I trust him with my life. In a relationship with my little cousin; hell no I don't trust him. I've seen too many girls come and go from that boy's room--"

"Like you're so much better about that"

"Hey, don't…it's-- we're not talking about _me_ okay? Vince is…he's not the guy to start a relationship with. Hell, I don't know if he knows what a relationship is outside of sex."

"Leon, people grow up -- think of how much he's changed and grown since Dom's been locked up."

"But now Dom's back"

"So?"

"So…things are probably gonna change again," he sighed, unable to explain the enigma of Dominic Toretto.

"Can you at least trust **me**? I'm not stupid, I don't plan on turning into his fuck-buddy or something. I just…okay, I've always thought he was hot, but I knew he tended to be a jerk and just messed around. And then I moved in and he'd really impressed me with how much he'd changed. He recognized he needed to step up, and he did. I like that. He can change when he wants to…"

"Gabe, every girl wants to be the one to tame the bad-boy," Leon sighed; he knew this one like the back of his hand.

"Would you listen; I like who he's become already"

"I don't like it…"

"Leon, not to be difficult, but you don't need to. I prefer you be okay with it and have our backs…" she told him levelly, proud for standing her ground with him.

"I always got both your backs," Leon assured her ruefully.

"Leon, my eyes are wide-open; I know this might not all go perfectly, but I'm gonna give it a try anyway. I've thought about it a lot, I promise."

"You would…I wish you weren't so smart; I might win with you more often," he sighed, calmed down.

"I am glad you care so much, though," Gabe smiled, squeezing his shoulder.

"Course I do. I'll always be here for you; you know that, right?"

"Mmmhmm"

"Good..."

Some silence passed, then, and Gabe felt pretty comfortable that the situation had been handled pretty well, at least for the moment. Who knew if Leon could really remain calm about this but she trusted that he could. They had a brother-sister kind of relationship but had become something more like best friends now that they were older. They had a lot in common and just clicked somehow. Her parents didn't always like that they were so close but got over it; family is family, so they couldn't completely hate him even if they were worried he'd get Gabe arrested or something else as equally scandalous.

"So when're you gonna hook me up with one of your college girlies?" he smiled; he was never one to let a silence go.

"Someday…can we go back now? I wanna go to bed"

"Yea, yea…your _own_ bed, right?"

"Ugh, **yes**, Le, my own bed," she nodded, rolling her eyes.

"Aiight"

Back to the house, Gabe and Leon both went straight downstairs to their rooms. Gabe felt a little better about things and fell asleep relatively easily. Leon was awake a little longer, fretting about all the ways it could all go wrong; how he'd have to help Gabrielle put herself back together and be obligated to hate Vince until she felt better and started getting over him. Then again, couldn't there be worse things than his cousin and his best friend? Sure, he'd at least rather it be Jesse, but he'd survive this…and he'd be supportive, too. He'd manage.

* * *

Gabrielle's alarm clock went off and she hit the snooze once, as always, slowly opening her eyes to start waking up.

"Ummm…hi"

Vince was sitting on the corner of her bed, as she found when she'd blinked the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey," he nodded, surprisingly awake for the time of morning.

"…I have to pee. Make yourself at home," she mumbled.

"I _am_ home," he grinned amusedly.

She rolled her eyes and climbed out of bed, straightening her clothes as she did so, much to Vince's amusement.

"So…how'd it go with Leon?" he asked when she came back.

"Not bad, actually. He was upset but I talked to him and he's gonna be okay," she shrugged. "Are _you_ okay?" she asked, brushing a finger over his jaw, which looked lightly bruised under his stubble.

"Fine. Been through a whole lot worse," he assured her, waving away her concern. "What exactly did you say to him?" He questioned once her hand fell away from his face.

"That he didn't _need_ to be okay with it but I hoped he would be. And…he shouldn't worry because my eyes are wide open…"

"You sure about that?" Vince asked, a skeptical eyebrow raised at her.

"…Yes… … ... I like who you are, Vince. I know you're not perfect but it's okay. I'm willing to try if you are…to _really_ try," she explained, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

He nodded slowly and watched her when she got around to changing as discretely as she could, her back turned to him.

"I've already seen it," he teased.

"Shut up," she admonished, pulling down her beater and a teal t-shirt over it. "And I've gotta get going…I'll see you later."

He nodded and she bent over to give him a quick kiss, which he held, grabbing the back of her head to hold it -- their first real kiss. She grinned against his lips but pulled away before he could deepen the kiss too much. It felt good, great even; so much better and pleasurable while in her fully aware state.

"I really do have to go," she whispered, kissing his cheek before hurrying upstairs to grab something to eat and go.

"Don't talk, Letty," she groaned when the older girl was smirking at her in the kitchen like she knew a secret.

"I didn't say anything…but I _am_ wondering what V's doin' with a chick who spends Saturday mornings and Wednesday nights coaching little kids," Letty mused, confident she knew at least the gist of the previous night's fiasco.

"Are you teasing me or Vince?"

"…whoever it works best for."

"….I'm feeling a little put down."

"Sorry"

Gabe shoveled down some cereal and scurried out of the house, waving before hopping into her car parked next to the sidewalk.

* * *

"How's the jaw, dawg?"

Vince looked up from the magazine he was flipping through blandly, noticing Leon just inside the room.

"It's been worse but it's definitely been better," Vince shrugged, running his tongue over the inside of his split-lip ruefully.

"I decided I ain't gonna say I'm sorry," Leon informed him, leaning up against his friend's doorjamb.

"Didn't expect an apology," Vince nodded.

"Then you're not as dumb as you look," the other man nodded, eyeing him up and down with a look Vince couldn't quite decipher.

"You here for another go?" Vince inquired, not completely sure if he'd be surprised if he was.

"Nah, then Gabe would be all pissed…can't deny part of me wants to just on principle. It's only that I know how you are, Vince. I'm not sayin' I'm any better, but Gabe deserves better, ya know? I can't stop either of you, but I can't let you hurt her, either. I won't sit back and let you hurt her and joke it off like we always do…Gabrielle's different."

"You think I don't know that?" Vince frowned.

"I'm just making sure you do. Hurt her and I'll hurt you, and we'll never be the same again. I can't hate you cuz we're best friends, but…I dunno. I won't respect you for hurting our friend. If you can't settle down, just make a clean break," Leon explained, hoping Vince would understand and heed his words.

"I hear you, man. I ain't out to hurt her…she's already my friend. It's already different; count on that. It's time."

"Aiight"

* * *

Gabe bounded through the side door later that afternoon with a smile, getting a glass of water for herself.

"Win?" Jesse asked as the only occupant of the kitchen.

"Of course! My girls are _amazing_! Duh"

"Aren't they, like…10?"

"So? What's it matter?" she challenged.

"Don't get all mama-bear on me. They're cool, I get it," Jesse grinned, immediately backing-off.

"That's right….where's everyone?"

"By that do you mean Leon or Vince?" he smirked.

"Why?! Have they been fighting again?" she demanded.

"Noooo…." Jesse drawled. "But you can tell me _what_ made Leon tweak…"

"Nevermind"

"Man! I get not telling Dom -- _you _barely know him -- but I'm close with both of you. Give me _something_!"

"I don't wanna talk about it…it doesn't do with you, so don't worry," Gabe told him seriously, hoping he'd let it go.

"Whatever, G; it ain't like you messed around with V," he snickered, missing the look that passed over her face.

"What would be wrong with _that_?" she asked conversationally, leaning on the counter while he ate.

"Cuz…I dunno. Can't picture you and coyote, I guess. I see you runnin' of with some guy in your class who's gonna be a lawyer or some shit. Nothing's wrong with it, but it's just…improbable. So what was it, really?" he asked quickly, trying to catch her off guard so she'd be surprised and spill it.

"Not gonna work, Jess," she smiled; this was his tactic with almost every secret.

"Hey Gabe. We had sandwiches for lunch so there's no leftovers. Sorry," Mia told her, cutting through the kitchen for a soda.

"S'okay. Hotdogs after the game. Gotta change."

She flounced off down the stairs and shut her door behind her, stripping off her teal tem shirt, #2, sponsored by an ice-cream shop, and traded it for a white tank top and shorts instead of the black tear-away pants. Music was coming from next door so she went to visit Leon, letting herself in and plopping on his lap where he was sitting at the desk on his laptop.

"Ugh, sup girl? When did you get so fat?" he grunted.

"Fat!" she shrieked, whacking him.

"I'm kidding! You're gorgeous," he sighed, wrapping his arms around her, ducking his head to rest his chin on her shoulder.

"You're not mad at me, right?" she ventured, staring at the car-parts website he was on; she wasn't sure what to do with an upset Leon.

"Nah, baby girl…I was never mad at ya. Worried, is all…kindda scared of what might happen. I don't want you gettin' in over your head or nothin'," he explained.

"I think it'll be okay. I'm not saying it's necessarily gonna be perfect and simple 24/7, but --" she shrugged.

"Yea, yea...I talked to him; I'm chill about it."

"What'd you say?" she groaned, sulking against him, much to his amusement.

"Not to hurt you cuz I won't respect him if he doesn't treat you right and forgets you're our friend. He hurts you, I hurt him -- that whole deal."

"You get he's bigger than you, right?" Gabe teased.

"You get that I'm basically your older brother, right? When it comes to you, I don't give a shit how big another dude is."

"Aw, thanks…but, look…you have to give us room to make _some_ mistakes. You can't flip out the first time we argue about…whatever. Don't get up in arms over normal relationship problems. Promise?" she asked, eyeing him critically.

"Yea, yea…I can only keep you under my wing for so long…you're growing up so fast," he cooed, standing and throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her up stairs to join Jesse at the PS2.

"You're a Neanderthal," she complained, holding his waist tight for safety.

"You Gabrielle, me Leon," he grunted cheerfully, getting a beer. "I'm not gonna drop you. Relax."

"Well you're losing muscle tone, so I'm worried"

"Losing tone my ass," he scoffed, dropping her unceremoniously on the couch to play Jesse.

"So how come we're the only ones here?"

"Mia's off to a friend's and Dom and Letty are spending the day out together…can you say 'hotel room'?" Leon laughed.

"Vince is down in his room," Jesse whispered, but since he was sitting in front of her and focusing on the game the whisper wasn't at all secretive.

"Dude. I can hear," Leon informed him.

"Sorry"

"Can't say my name no more?"

They all three looked up and Vince was in the open area between the stairs, kitchen and living room, looking unsure of his welcome.

"Nah, never said that, dawg. Why'd you apologize, Jess?"

"Uh…"

"Don't put him on the spot, Le. It's fine, Jess, but Leon just passed you," Gabe reminded him.

"Shit," he muttered, eyes locking back to the screen.

Gabe met Vince's eye and they shared a long look before Jesse announced his victory.

"You're a freak of nature, man -- V, you got winner," Leon groaned, tossing Vince a controller, going to look for food.

Vince accepted the peace offering and dropped to the floor next to Jesse, leaning back against Gabe's legs on the couch.

Leon walked back in shortly with a sandwich, eyeing Vince and his little cousin warily. He was the only one who knew so he knew it was wrong to say anything or make a snide comment. But he _so_ wanted to. He usually chose to cope by using humor and he felt this would seem easier if he could tease. He'd just have to wait it out until they made their relationship-thing obvious, especially since he promised to be cool about it.

Gabrielle's ringtone sounded through the room a little while later and she answered it, happily chatting away with a girlfriend for a while.

"…uh, sure, sounds good…haha, yea, whatever gets me out of cooking is good, true story," she laughed, her words grabbing the guys' attention. "See you then. Bye."

"Not cooking!" Jesse complained.

"Correct. I'm going out with some girls from the team for dinner," she announcedexcitedly.

"Not that you don't _deserve_ do go out, but it's just us three for dinner," Leon sighed.

"So order out. Go out. Just because you three are antisocial doesn't mean I have to be."

"I'll show you antisocial"

Moments later, Gabe was being wrestled to the ground, pinned beneath her suddenly least-favorite cousin.

"Leon, I'm small and you're hurting me," Gabe complained.

"Say uncle!"

"Uh-uh"

"Then I'm not letting go"

Gabe managed to elbow him awkwardly in the side but he remained unphased, simply tightening his grip.

"Fine. Uncle."

Leon smirked and hopped to his feet and onto the couch. Gabe just rolled onto her back and watched Jess waste Vince, who handed the controller over to Leon. He looked down at her and they held each other's gaze for a while before Gabe blushed and looked away, sitting up. Almost an hour later, the guys had yet to tire of their game and Gabrielle slipped away and down to her room.

Vince noticed her departure and wasn't sure if she'd meant for him to follow. He wanted to, but it would be too obvious. He wanted to be more subtle -- if he could manage such a thing -- until they were more sure and down with everyone knowing. Plus he had no doubt what conclusions Leon would draw if he followed right after her down the stairs.

Another hour and a half after that, Gabrielle reappeared all showered and ready to go in Khaki capris and a white tank, pink panted toes wriggling in white flip-flops.

"There's oven-pizzas; I'm sure even you three can manage not burning them."

"Oh, ha-ha," Jesse scoffed, flicking channels. "For your information, we're going out for dinner."

"Oh, where to?"

"Anywhere with food; what's it to ya?" Leon questioned.

"Yea, _you_ said we're antisocial; why do you care if we go out?" Vince agreed.

"It was just a question, calm down. I'm out; have fun on your _date_."

Leon was going to protest the label "Date" but she was out the door too quick.

"Jesse, you said you heard her friend say they're goin' to _Friday's_, right?"

"Mmmhmm"

"Good thing they have a bar there"

* * *

Gabrielle and her friends had just given the waiter their order when she happened to notice a few people walk in and sit at the bar; three guys who were much too familiar. She chose to ignore, however, convincing herself to write it off as coincidence.

"Oh my gosh; those guys keep looking over here…was that guy looking at you, Gabe?" Hayley hissed from next to her at the table with an excited grin; Gabe, too, had noticed their focus.

"Yea, I know them. White shirt is my cousin," she sighed. "I think he's trying to annoy me."

"Well get them over here -- hotties."

"Seriously?"

"Duh"

Gabrielle only did so because, yes, they were good looking and under other circumstances she'd think it was as fun as Hayley found it. She was feeling a little territorial, but pushed the thoughts away.

Jesse happened to look over and she waved him over. He frowned in surprise and quirked an eyebrow at her, but she just nodded and flicked her hand in a "come-on" fashion. With a delighted grin, he hopped up from his place on the bar and Hayley and Gabe gave made room for him on their side of the booth. In his delight and ADD, he hadn't told Leon or Vince, who made their way over after observing and putting it together themselves. Watching them approach, Gabrielle realized she was surprised that Leon had willingly brought Vince to a place where she was at -- it was a good kind of surprised.

"Ladies," Leon greeted with a far-too-charming grin; he and Vince pulled up chairs to the end of the table, sitting backwards in them. And he proceeded to flirt shamelessly, as did Jesse with a little more subtlety. Vince just sat and chatted with an I-Know-I-Look-Good air about him, but nothing more.

"So we're going back to our apartment to hang out and watch a movie or something," Hayley informed the boys, pointing to Kate and herself. "You three are welcome if you don't have other plans."

"Nah, no plans. Gabe's been calling us antisocial," Leon informed her as they trooped out.

"Not anymore"

"You can ride with me so I don't get lost," he offered, slinging an arm over her shoulders.

Hayley was very excited by the proposition, especially when she saw his car, and was glad she'd rode along with Katie. They said goodbye to Molly and Emily and Katie offered Jesse a ride while Vince invited himself to Gabrielle's Jetta.

He didn't demand, or even ask, to drive, which surprised her. She didn't protest this, though, heading off in the direction of the on-campus apartment Hayley and Katie lived in -- Gabe had gone to high school with Katie and they hadn't met Hayley until freshmen year. They were getting closer and she realized Leon wasn't moved over to exit the freeway. Gabe was confused but figured maybe Hayley was focused more on Leon than the roads; she chuckled, as this could prove embarrassing for her friend.

And then Leon cut her off in a way that was too perfect to be last minute and unplanned.

"Son of a bitch!" Gabe hissed, heart jumping in her chest. "Does he not know you're not driving…jeeze…"

"Guess not," Vince nodded, his hand having suddenly found it's way to the inside of her leg a bit above the knee. "You alright?" he checked , his thumb rubbing back and forth.

"Mmmhmm…"

The guys tended to leave her alone when they drove, which was the way she liked it. It wasn't as bit of a deal riding with one of the guys but her heart had a seizure when things got too close.

"Sorry Gabe!" Leon shouted as soon as they got there.

"You're a jerk"

"I didn't think you'd drive with Vince with you. You know I don't do that to you, not on purpose," he promised, ruffling her hair and guiding her inside, which also happened to be _away_ from Vince, she noticed.

Katie and Jesse were there in a minute and they all claimed places. Katie got pillows for her and Jesse so they could lay on the floor, Gabe lounged on the couch, legs stretched over Vince's lap, and Hayley sat across Leon's lap, which had come at his invitation. She found it ironic he was flirting with her friends when he didn't want _her_ with one of _his_ friends. Granted, she was the one of youngest on her team and Hayley was older…maybe he didn't think it was as much of a deal if they didn't actually have feelings for each other. After much consideration, Gabe decided it was a bigger deal to tease than to actually have feelings. Of course, Hayley wasn't his little cousin….but she was _someone's_ little _something_.

Vince squeezed her knee and gave her a questioning look when she met his eye, but she just smiled and turned to the TV quickly before anyone else noticed her distraction.

"Gabe, stay the night," Hayley suggested when the guys got ready to beat it after a surprisingly fun time.

"…kay. If you lend me shorts or something."

"Aw, no breakfast," Leon complained.

Despite the guilt-trip, Gabrielle stayed, curling up on the couch for more movies with the girls. Part of her wished she would've left for a chance of more time alone in her car with Vince but she wasn't even sure Leon would let her ride along with him, much less let them get away with any kind of "detour" on the way back to the Fort.

**So that's that -- hope you liked.**

**the part i almost left out was the whole thing with her coaching little-league softball, but then i decided to keep it cuz it just kind of emphasized what Leon had to say: that she was different than other girls Vince has run with, more innocent and stuff. So yea, hopefully that tid-bit didn't bore you. And then the end part sets up a little side-relationship for later. whoop.**

**Okay, well, hope you liked.  
REVIEW!**


	3. Can't Help It

**OKay, i just want to apologize for this taking forever. I've been a little distracted with homework since it's the end of the year and finals are coming up and professors keep loading on homework. Bleh. Plus I want to spend as much time with people as i can before we all go to home for the summer.**

**Anyway, i'll try to keep up better. My bad**

**Can't Help It**

_Put to rest_

_What you thought of me_

_While I clean this slate_

_With the hands of uncertainty_

_And whatever pain may come_

_I'm forgiving what I've done_

_**-What I've Done by Linkin' Park**_

Gabrielle was starting to get confused and a little uncomfortable. She hadn't really talked to Vince since Saturday, except for around the group, which had thankfully gotten less awkward. She was thankful for this, since she already felt that eyes were on her, Leon, and Vince, waiting for an explosion, as if they were currently in the eye of the storm with more trouble brewing. She could only hope that wasn't the case; she already felt like Dom saw her as a trouble-maker in his home.

* * *

"V, you cool?"

Dom was on his way out of the garage, which would leave Vince alone in the shop. Vince was working on his own car, just tinkering away, which meant he was bored or upset…or possibly both.

"Mmm…yea, can't complain," Vince responded, exploring under the hood, arms braced on the front of the car.

"I know I've been gone a long time, but you're off," Dom commented, stretching his tense shoulders tiredly.

"Just been thinkin' a lot"

"Bout what? Is this something to do with me being back? Or is it the deal with Leon the other night?" he questioned, his deep voice curious but casual; after all, Vince knew they could talk about anything, right?

"Ugh," Vince groaned, wiping a hand over his face; he wasn't used to having Dom around again -- the one person he'd always been able to tell anything and everything to, no matter what.

"V, you and me are good, right?" Dom frowned.

"Yea, man…I'm just not used to having you around again…"

"Well I am around; tell me whatever"

"Me and Gabe…Leon decked me cuz I slept with her"

"Oho, well no shit," Dom chuckled deeply.

"Ain't funny, bro"

"Oh … … _**oh**_"

"Yea," Vince nodded, still staring down.

"…damn, V," Dom sighed.

"Yea, tell me about it"

"Bro, she's fine…but Leon's cousin?"

"_**I know**_," Vince insisted. "I can't help it, man. I would if I could, or even if I _had_ to…but then she goes and tells me she likes me. What am I supposed to do if we both feel the same way?" Vince questioned.

"Just go for it. Hell if I know anything beyond that," Dom shrugged, shaking his head.

"Yea, I guess none of us know how to make a relationship _really_ work…you and Letty alright?" he asked, straightening up.

"Too early to say," Dom admitted. "Sometimes I wonder if too much has changed. There's too much I don't wanna tell her."

"Ah, you two'll figure something gout," Vince shrugged.

"So will you and Gabe…"

"…yea…"

"So you comin' home or what? Leon said the pizza's on the way"

"Nah…I'll be home later. I'll be alright," Vince shrugged, waving his friend away.

"Aiight…don't get too bent out of shape about it"

Dom left with a last glance at his oldest friend, hoping he'd be okay.

* * *

"Hey, Gabe…"

"Hey what, Jesse?" Gabe smiled, expecting an off-the-wall comment or question.

"…is that Katie girl single?" he asked with a slightly bashful undertone.

"Yes. Why?" Gabe beamed.

"Just asking…"

"Uh-huh…do you liiiike her?"

"She's a real cool girl. I dunno," he shrugged. "Probably not her type, though, right?"

"Ya know…"she pondered, scrunching up her face. "She hasn't had good luck with guys so I don't know if she really has a type right now."

"Mmm, well, you should invite her over sometime"

"I will, don't worry"

Her phone beeped a few minutes later, a text message in her inbox. Reading it, she grinned.

"Oooo, it's from Katie"

"Really?!" Jesse smiled, perking up

Gabe just waggled her eyebrows, able to get the phone snapped shut before Jesse jumped at her, trying to wrestle the little red device from her.

"Ah! Stop it, it's not for you! Leon, get him off!" she squealed.

"Just don't hurt her, bro," Leon shrugged, sitting in the kitchen with a beer in hand, waiting for the pizza.

"Jesse! No, it's not for you, about you, and it's not from Katie! Stop or I'll tell her bad things about you! Hah!"

She won with this, Jesse climbing back onto the couch, eyeing her carefully.

"See you guys later. Put a few slices in the fridge if you're feeling gracious"

"Whoa, where are you jetting-off to?"

"Meeting up with Emily for a while. No worries; I have class tomorrow so I won't be late," she promised, snatching her keys and hopping into her car.

In reality the text message had been from Vince, reading : _Alone At The Garage. _She went with her gut feeling that this meant what she thought it meant and went to DT rather than Emily's, as Emily wasn't expecting her.

There were no cars there and, especially in the fading light, it all seemed a little seedy. But one of the side doors stood ajar so she let herself in, following the music and tinkering of tools. She found Vince's car, his jean-clad legs sticking out from underneath. She nudged his boot lightly with her toe, catching his attention, and he rolled out on the creeper.

"Hi"

"Hey. I wasn't sure if you'd be able to get outta there or not; didn't know what was going on"

"Just waiting for pizza," she shrugged, watching him stand, wiping his hands on a dirty rag.

His hands were dirty, as were his forearms and even his shoulders and white beater. She liked it, she decided, the grease and sweat, that he worked with his hands. She'd never been with "a bad boy" before, but just knowing he was rough and hardedged did something for her. She'd been missing out, clearly.

"What?"

"Nothing," she blushed, caught staring.

He chuckled deeply at her, looking her over much the same way. From her slender legs, cute roung ass, slim waist, average breasts, lightly toned arms, and up her long, wavy auburn hair that framed a lightly tan, young face. He usually liked longer legs but decided he liked her shorter frame. Of course, he'd been going for skanks, too, and Gabe was far from that. Different was good.

"So…what's wrong with your car?" she asked lamely, sure she wouldn't undernstand.

"Nothing"

"So you did this on purpose," she nodded, catching on.

"Kind of…it worked out really good," he smirked.

"Just thought you'd accost me in the dirty garage…"

"Are you into that type of thing?"

"Not right now…"

"Yea, I figure"

He was leaning against the car and Gabrielle emboldened herself, reaching up to wipe grease from his face. Vince caught her hand first and kept it from his dirty skin. Instead, he kissed her open palm before using her wrist to yank her up against him, slinging an arm low around her waist. Gabrielle gasped at the sudden movement, but her lips were instantly covered by his.

The kiss began slow but firm and he buried a hand in her thick hair. Vince pulled her hips tight against him, kissing her more deeply, exploring her mouth. Her hands touched him tentatively, one rested on his arm round her and the other pushing lightly into his messy hair. He continued to harden the kiss and she leaned backwards, back arched and neck tilted to continue kissing him.

His lips left hers and licked along her jaw to her neck, leaving her breathing heavily. He pulled her hair to the side, exposing more flesh, biting and sucking. He quickly found her lips again, delving deeply until she began pulling away. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth, slowly letting it slip through. He kept his face mere centimeters from hers, looking down to watch her chest heave in time with the hot breath on his chin. Her halter top dipped low so he rather enjoyed the view for a while until she started to pull away, much to his discontent.

"Vince, you're probably getting me dirty…"

"So?"

"…so no one knows I came here," she pointed out.

"Well, you're already dirty," he shrugged, pulling her back, burrying his face in her neck, nuzzling the soft skin.

Gabe smiled until she remembered her hunger.

"Vince," she interrupted quietly, tugging on his hair to pull his head back.

He settled back in on her lips and she couldn't resist, wrapping her arms around his neck, pushing herself up on her toes so he didn't have to duck forward so much. He turned so her back was against the car and this, with him pressed to her front, left her no where to go, which gave her a thrill. But then her stomach growled and she broke the kiss; after all, she didn't want to get carried away there at the garage.

"Come on. We need food"

He gave a short, annoyed sigh but nodded and grabbed his keys from the work bench. Gabrielle went to the bathroom, wiping some grease from her arms, making sure she wasn't too covered in it; it had gotten on her shirt, but that was really it.

"Ready _princess_," Vince mocked when she reappeared.

She just made a face at him and got into his car. He must've rinsed off in the back, too, because his arms were clean. Smirking at her, he peeled out of the garage, pointing them in the direction of food. She talked him into Taco Bell and then into stopping at a gas station.

"Candy," was her explanation, returning moments later with a few bags.

"Girls," he muttered, already eating some food, apparently too impatient to wait.

"Men," she mocked back

They stopped out by the beach, eating at a picnic table, and talked around eating. Gabrielle got the candy from the car and perched up on the table and laid back so her head was in front of Vince, where his food had been minutes earlier.

"So how long 'til they come looking for you?" she questioned, popping peanut butter M&Ms into her mouth.

"Eh, they don't typically worry 'bout me much. They know I can take care of myself," he shrugged.

"I worry about you"

"Thanks…I think"

"Mmhmm…you deserve to be worried about," Gabe mused, eyeing an odd-shaped candy before eating it anyway.

Vince watched her and tried grabbing one form her but she pulled the bag away quickly.

"Uh-uh"

"Seriously?" He groaned before noticing she held an M&M between her teeth.

With a smirk, he bent forward and covered her mouth, sweeping the candy away with his tongue. A triumphant smile donned his face as he chewed. She did the same with another chocolate and he bent, slowly extending his tongue, licking over her lips lightly before taking it.

"So what excuse did _you_ give to get out of the house?" he asked, realizing he'd never questioned it before.

"Said I was going to Emily's; I lied. That's probably wrong"

"Ain't hurtin' nobody"

"True," she conceded, setting the M&Ms aside for gummy bears.

"I'll drive around for a while or something so we don't get back at the same time…whenever we go"

"No, it's okay. I can actually go to Emily's or Katie's"

"'kay"

"…Vince, how long are we gonna keep this quiet?" she asked curiously.

"I dunno. Dom knows…sorry," he added, playing with her fanned-out hair, his other hand on the skin bared between her shorts and her top.

"That's okay…I just don't know if we really need to go out of our way. Leon's the only one I'd want to hide it from for a while and he already knows."

"Okay"

"M'kay," she nodded, too, holding a gummy hear between her lips for him.

When he ducked down for it she pulled it back into her mouth, giggle softly at her game. She was quicker than him a second time, but the third time he bit for it, he accidentally bit her lip instead.

"Ow," she frowned, turning away to feel her lip for blood, finding none.

Vince pulled her hand away, suckling the corner of her lip, wiping his tongue over it slowly. Gabrielle smiled against his mouth and tilted her head for the proper kiss, pushing her fingers into his hair and grabbing at his shirt with her other hand around his back.

He pulled back quickly, grabbing the candy back where she'd sat it, forgotten. He just smirked, standing so she couldn't grab it back. He was amused with this playful, casual thing and he decided, watching her snicker and roll off the table, that he liked it. It might not necessarily "be him" but it could be…and he wanted it to be, and he loved seeing Gabe relaxed and happy like this, happy just to be around each other. He'd never been innocent and playful like this but he hoped, suddenly, it would be more than a one-time thing.

"Give," she demanded, trying to exert firmness; the effect was lost with her grin.

"Gotta come get what you want," he goaded, slipping candy into his mouth slowly.

"Oh yeah?"

He grinned and she tugged on the front of his shirt, pulling him towards her. She found the candy and took it for herself; as soon as it was swallowed, he pulled her back and delved deeply into her mouth, hands tight on her hips. It was an unfortunately short kiss before her phone chimed and she grabbed it, opening the text message. Vince nipped her neck and she turned away to be able to see it, only to be grabbed from behind. She squealed, shrugging him away from her neck, laughing at Jesse, who was wondering if she was with Katie. She'd no sooner sent a message back and Vince's cell rang.

"Sup Dom…"

Gabe turned in his arm, nipping his neck back to return the favor. She smirked and kept talking, assuring Dom he was fine and would be home shortly. She tightened into his chest and circled her arms around her waist, waiting for him to end the conversation.

"…no worries, brotha…see you in a few," he parted, hanging up and kissing the side of her head. "We should get goin'…apparently it's weird I missed dinner."

Gabe grinned and nodded, grabbing her candy back and going back to his car. Vince dropped her off at her car after a long kiss, watching her pull out before going home.

"Yo, V, where you been? Pizzia's cold," Dom hollered.

"Been around, man," Vince shrugged, grabbing a Corona and a couple slices from the fridge.

* * *

After a couple phone calls, Gabe was at Katie and Hayley's apartment.

"What's on you?"

"Oh, yea, grease. Can I borrow a blue tank? As long as it's the same color, they'll never know…"

Katie nodded and they went to her room to find something.

"So…why do you have grease on you and why don't you want other people to know?" Katie frowned as Gabe quickly traded shirts.

"Because I was making out with Vince and because no one knows yet."

"With Vi -- the Vince from the other night?!" Katie questioned excitedly.

"yea," Gabe sighed, having expected this reaction.

"Oh. My. Gosh…**Hot!** How old is he?"

"24. But I'll be 20 soon," she defended quickly.

"Who gives a shit; age is only a number…wow. Holy cow, he's seriously a bad-boy…and a _long_ way from Logan."

"Eh, I don't wanna talk about him," Gabe groaned, making a face.

"Why, he was good guy. You were real cute in high school"

"He changed a lot, though. He's a jerk most of the time, now…"

"Yea but he wasn't before. _You_ cashed your V-Card with him," Katie reminded her, smiling.

"And then he started being a dick about it -- _that's _when he changed. I don't think I regret it, but I don't really need to get nostalgic over it right now, either…"

"At least your first time you were both virgins so it could be sufficiently awkward for both of you. Evan wasn't and…I think that made me a little more nervous…eh, I don't know," she shrugged.

"Hey Gabe…wattcha guys doin?" Hayley asked, letting herself in and jumping on the bed with them.

"Talking about boys," Katie generalized since the sex conversatin would leave Hayley out. "Gabe's with Vince"

"Whoa. You go"

"Uh…thanks?"

"I guess he's growing up…guys gotta stop being while and settle-in _some_time, don't they?" Katie reasoned.

"Not all guys, but mostly," Hayley agreed. "Depends on the guy…my brother _still_ won't find a nice girl and he's almost 30. He wants a family but wants to party and hook-up…he's so off-it. My mom's gonna freak soon."

"I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner or later," Katie sighed, flopping back against the bed. "I'm jealous, Gabe. I don't want to be one of those girls who _needs_ a guy but…I really want one," she smiled wistfully.

"What about Jesse?" Gabe chimed in.

"What about him? Isn't he like Leon?" she frowned, graciously not including Vince.

"Not really," Gabe negated. "He doesn't really book-up randomly. It's more like…a lot of short relationships. The thing is, he's not what most people expect. See…at the races all the guys with their cars are like gods; they're macho and the best…it all spills over. Jess has a good car and a hot, bad-ass team, so the girls just assume he's that, you know?"

"Yea…"

"Well, they'll date a bit -- whatever -- and then they realize he's not a hardcore badass like Dom and them. He's real quirky, really smart, and he's got some ADD. He's getting smart, though. He's looking for girls outside of racing now, who don't assume like that, cuz he's looking for more than one night. He's great, just quirky," Gabe explained.

"Aw, I think he's adorable. I like 'em thinner, unlike **you**," Katie teased, nudging Gabe with her tow. "But he's probably not into me…I mean, I hardly know jack about cars, never been to a street race, don't know anything _about_ street racing ….I don' know how to change a flat or the oil or anything. But gas in it and it runs."

"Perfect. Jesse will do those things for you. Kidding. But it is perfect. He needs something outside of cars and racing. You and Jesse would be amazing."

"Really?"

"I love you and I love Jesse. I wouldn't lie about this. He's 22 if you're wondering."

"Don't care. Give him my number….or should I call him now…which is less lame?"

"I'll give him your number. If you called him now he probably wouldn't know what to say," Gabe chuckled, "cuz he likes you, too."

"Ahhh! Seriously? I thought he was just being nice the other day so I wrote it off….aww!"

* * *

Gabrielle was home a little over an hour later and only Dom and Letty were in the living room so she went downstairs, not wanting to witness PDA.

"Jesse, how much do you **love** me," Gabe asked from just inside his and Leon's room, where Leon was in bed watching a movie and Jesse was on the computer.

"A ton, why?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Cuz I have a present for you…"

"If it's food or cigs, I'll marry you," he offered.

"I'll have to let Katie know you're so easy. Here's her number; she wanted you to have it," Gabe laughed, hanging over a note card.

"Serious?!"

"Yea"

"Why?"

"Maybe she likes you, bro," Leon suggested, rolling his eyes.

"Really?!"

"Yea, Jess, why's that so hard to believe?" Katie grinned

"Cuz I just really figured I wasn't her type"

"Well I had to talk you up pretty good, so behave," she teased lightly.

"What'd you say?" he questioned, worry evident in his voice.

"Oh, don't worry. She thought she wasn't your type, so I told her the truth. I said you usually tried for an actual relationship and you looked outside the races cuz we know they're skanky. She was worried because she doesn't know anything about cars and she thought you wouldn't like that," she explained.

"Nah, I can fix her car for her," Jesse reasoned with a good-natured grin.

"I know, right? That's what I said"

"So why aren't you hookin **me** up? Hayley's hot," Leon complained.

"And she's not your type"

"What's that mean?" Leon complained, rolling onto his stomach to frown up at her.

"It means…her legs aren't open for business"

"Oh, shit…that'd be a lot of pressure. For both of us, really….fuck that. She seemed a little too high maintenance for my taste, anyway," he sighed, chalking-up another loss.

"Yea, that's another reason you'd be weird together; I just didn't want to tell her that"

"Oh, well, what about all your other friends?" he questioned.

"I dunno…it'll have to be someone without a brother or cousin who'll jack you one in the face," she teased.

Leon's eyebrows shot-up in surprise and Jesse's head popped up, cocking to the side in thought.

"There's a connection…" he muttered.

Leon and Gabe waited patiently, sure he'd put it together on his own in a moment or two.

"…you and Vince!"

"Yea," she nodded.

"You weren't kidding before…you an--wow"

"Good wow?"

"Hell yea"

"Good…make sure Leon always agrees," she nodded, turning to leave. "Oh, and call her soon."

Gabrielle detoured to Vince's room, where he was tuning his acoustic. He was all cleaned up now but still hot, and she'd always liked he played the guitar. So, she didn't make her presence known, hanging back to listen instead. He started playing something vaguely familiar, but she didn't know exactly what it was or who it was by. She just lingered in the doorway until the doorjamb creaked when she shifted, gaining his attention.

"Sorry"

"For what?" he frowned.

"Interrupting you"

"Ah, I don't care"

"Well don't stop," she encouraged, crawling onto the bed to sit next to him.

He started again and she kissed his shoulder, effectively distracting him again. He stopped and turned towards her but she only gave him a short kiss before urging him to continue.

"Don't pretend you don't like playing," she whispered, tracing a finger over the intricate dragon tattooed on his upper arm.

He finished and set aside the instrument, turning towards her, moving an arm behind her, slipping his other hand behind her head, tilting it carefully. His tongue found hers with a quick-learned perfection.

"Vince, I have class in the morning," she murmured, against his lips.

"So what," he shrugged, shifting her tighter to him.

"So I have to go to bed"

"You're already in one," he pointed out, whispering millimeters from her ear before licking his way down her neck.

"You left a hickey earlier, by the way…I had to cover it at Katie's," she informed him, biting back a moan when he found a sensitive spot behind and a bit below her ear.

"Good…you like that?" he asked triumphantly.

"Mmmm…yea," she nodded when his teeth followed his tongue over the area again.

"Then don't make me stop"

"I have to get to bed or I could stay here all night."

"So stay," he invited, descending on her lips again.

Gabe masked the sudden self-conscious fear that settled in, tightening her stomach, and kissed him back for a few moments. She pulled away slowly, kissing his bottom lip before pulling away completely.

"…I can't," she whispered.

"Skip class," he suggested, already knowing he was fighting a lost battle.

"Can't…and tomorrow is my early class so I should get ready for bed now."

Gabrielle made quick time washing up and changing and was in bed soon after she left Vince's room. Part of her wanted to go back and sleep -- just sleep -- over there with him, but she also knew that had high potential to lead to other places.

* * *

**Well there it is. Hope you enjoyed**

**REVIEW!**

**Next chap should be up quicker than this one was**


	4. Already More

**I know it's been forever. I don't know why i don't just get on and update this more often. I haven't worked on the story in a while but i've got plenty of chaps finished alreayd. Sorry everyone -- my bad.**

**So this is two chapaters picked apart and thrown together, so it kind of jumps in the middle but i took out some stuff i didn't want right now and it ended up working best like this...so hopefullyou you enjoy.**

**R and R**

* * *

**Already More**

_Tell me, tell me  
__What makes you think that you are invincible  
__I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure  
__Please don't tell me I'm the only one that's vulnerable  
__Impossible  
__**-Vulnerable by Secondhand Serenade**_

Later in the week, Katie had come home with Gabrielle and they were laying out in the backyard in their bikinis. Mia had joined them as well, always up for girl things; it was a wonder she'd managed to not turn-out at least a little more like Letty.

"Where's Jesse?" Katie whispered, as not to be overheard by the guys who'd just fired up the grill.

"I don't now…distracted by his computer," Gabe suggested, eyes closed and rested on her arms where she was laid on her stomach.

"It happens," Mia nodded, propped up on her elbows to flick through a magazine.

"A computer over me in my bikini!" Katie complained.

"No. The computer's just his routine and he's with it right now. If he saw you right now, he'd stay outside. Don't worry; he'll be out here sooner or later. He always is," Gabe promised, peeking an eye open to watching Vince talking with Dom and Leon; Letty was sitting on the picnic table, apparently uninterested.

They laid there a little longer and Katie kept stealing glances towards the house, clearly willing Jesse to tear himself away from his laptop and materialize

When he finally did emerged a few minutes later, he had a Corona in hand and seemed genuinely surprise to look over and see Katie.

"Hey, Jess; whattcha been up to?" Gabe questioned.

"Oh, you know. I was on my laptop, dinking around with some designs. You know how it goes…sup Katie?" he greeted, coming right over to the girls, sitting on the grass by Katie and Mia.

"Just relaxing, which is the way I like it," she smiled, perking up a bit with his presence.

"I hear that"

"…so…you can design your cars on your computer?" she ventured, curious and at a loss for much else to bring up.

"Now you've done it," Mia laughed.

"Yea! Any car, actually," Jesse affirmed, launching into explanation; he remembered to simplify it for her, recalling she knew little about the workings of cars.

Jesse and Katie kept on talking and Gabe and Mia snuck away, leaving them to their devices. Mia changed and Gabe pulled on khaki shorts and a green tube-top over her black bathing suit. The pair sat around the table with Letty, watching the two men play and occasionally glancing over to Jesse and Katie. Jesse was now laying on his back with Mia's disregarded towel as a pillow and Katie was on her stomach still, propped on her elbows; their heads were perfectly close together.

"Now would be the perfect time for them to kiss," Mia sighed wistfully.

"I know, right?" Gabrielle smiled. "_So_ cute."

"Kind of like you and Vince….aw," Letty teased, pouting. "When're you gonna have loud, raunchy sex already?"

"I can hear you!" Leon glared, while Vince pretended not to hear a thing.

"Sorry!…so….?" Letty urged, egging her on softly when they went inside to get drinks and salad from the fridge.

"I don't know," Gabrielle shrugged, an embarrassed smile slipping across her face.

"…have you even _had_ sex yet?" Letty frowned.

"… … no," she answered, deciding not to count the night together before they were _actually _together.

"…oh…for some reason I just assumed you had…I don't even know why," she mused, grabbing beers and sodas. "Damn…are you a virgin?!"

"No"

"Oh…well, from what I hear, you're gonna have some fuuuuun," Letty drawled, waggling her eyebrows. "He's big and strong…I've heard he likes it r--"

"Shhh!" Gabe hissed when they were outside again.

Letty just laughed and took a seat while Dom pulled the meat off the grill, calling everyone over to the table.

Later that night, Katie was gone but she'd made plans with Jesse for the next day. Mia was in bed because she had school the next day, Dom and Letty were up in Dom's room, Leon and Jesse were up in the living room on the PS2, and Gabrielle didn't have classes until later the next day so she was awake with Vince, watching a movie with him in his room.

"I don't like this," she complained, whiney, turning her face into his side; they were propped up against the pillows.

She'd somehow let Vince talk her into one of Jesse's horror movies. Maybe she knew she'd be a chicken and have more reason to touch him a lot…maybe he knew it, too. Vince was practically bored with it, even as she cringed and jumped. He just laughed at her and tightened his thick arm around her, kissing her forehead.

"Don't make fun of me," she complained, turning back to the TV when the moment had passed.

"It only gets worse," he taunted.

Gabe groaned but then grinned in anticipation when he shifted onto his side. He played with her hair and ran his fingers over her scalp. She relaxed and noticed as soon as he started shifting his focus to her lips, his eyes flitting downward from hers. He leaned forward and, right when their lips grazed one another, she pulled away a fraction. He was taken aback and looked troubled until she smiled and kissed him before he had a chance to ask what was wrong.

"Ugh, you're evil," he grumbled against her lips, rolling so she was on her back and he was above her.

Gabe moaned when his weight settled on her, pressing her against the bed. She wound her arms around his back, one low and the other towards the base of his neck.

"I'm not evil," she argued after a few minutes, breath heavy.

"Yea, tell it to a jury, babe," he dismissed.

"You shouldn't insult your girlfriend, especially when you're in the same bed," she scolded.

"So sorry," he chuckled deeply, sounding more amused than apologetic.

She exhaled deeply when he dropped to hold himself on his forearms, adding more weight to her. He diverted his lips to her neck and collar since she seemed so intent to talk with her mouth instead of kiss with it.

"You okay?" he questioned, shifting his weight a little after her noise.

"Mmm, no, you're fine," she promised, tilting her head back to give him more access to her throat.

He took advantage of this, licking and sucking.

"Ow…uh-uh…I don't need another hickey…Vince!" she squealed, squirming under him.

"Sure you do; everyone could use one or two. The first one's gone…" he disagreed, laughing into her shoulder.

Gabe opened her mouth to say something but gasped instead, jerking suddenly when a character on screen screamed obnoxiously. This just humored Vince more, but he had the grace to at least try and hide it.

"Shut up"

He shrugged and zeroed back in to her neck again. When her hands came up to his shoulders, he snatched them away, pinning her hands to the bed by her wrists.

"They're fun. Learn how to cover them up and get used to it," he advised, working on a spot.

She snickered but rolled her eyes all the same.

"That's not the poi -- ow," she whimpered when his teeth bit into the base of her neck.

It only lasted a few moments and he licked the spot delicately before kissing her deeply once again. She tugged on her hands but Vince kept his hold and Gabe could imagine a smirk on his face. She made a small sound of frustration, which only aroused him further, and it was even more heightened when she pressed her hips up, trying to squirm out of his hold.

"Vince…" she pleaded softly, freeing her lips from his.

With a small groan, he released her hands and grasped her hips instead, holding them tight against him. He ground against her and moved his arms up, hugging her to him around her torso. He splayed his hands behind her and rose her chest to himself a fraction, nuzzling against her breasts. He started moving lower, tugging up on the hem of her shirt, exposing some soft, tan skin of her flat stomach. His callused hands rubbed over her smooth skin and his breath spread across the sliver of exposed expanse. He found her belly-button and bit at it lightly, tugging at its edges, stubble scraping the skin as well. Gabe laced her fingers into his hair to pull him back up to her, but he seemed content with her stomach form the moment, watching her stomach contract, apparently ticklish.

"Uh…Vince…all I see is some person chained to a wall," Gabe realized, frowning in disgust at the TV screen.

"Kinky," he commented amusedly, waggling his eyebrows up at her and she looked down, giving _him_ the disgusted look. "I'm kidding."

"Ugh, where's the remote," she groaned, swatting his head and rolling over to find the missing appliance.

"I'll get it," he sighed, retrieving it from the bedside stand, clicking off the offending movie.

He crawled back her way and nudged a leg over so he could settle perfectly between them, catching her lips with his. He pulled the string on her kapri sweats she'd changed into and pushed that hand up her shirt, groping her breasts through her bra.

"Vince.."

"Hmmmm," he acknowledged, changing focus to her ear since she once again had something to say.

"Vince…umm….stop"

He froze in the process of unclasping her bra, blinking down at her a couple times before removing his hand from her shirt immediately.

"I…thought…sorry, Gabe, I didn't…" he tried awkwardly, unsure what to say.

"Vince, it's…it's okay. It's just that I've been thinking a lot," she sighed.

"…_that's_ not good.

"It's not the end of the world," she promised. "…I guess I don't know if I know how to explain what I've been thinking. Well, okay…I've been thinking about sex."

She could see him attempting not to smirk out of the corner of her eye but she decided she couldn't quite look him in the eye after that outburst.

"…it's just that I don't want our relationship to be all about sex. I mean, if we…get in a fight, or something, and it's about sex than we can find sex anywhere; everyone can. But if it's more than that; if it's more of an attachment, an emotional one, and it's personal, then we'll miss it. It's something you can't find everywhere…"

"I hear you…but it's already more than that. I already told you I feel more than that with you," he reminded her.

"I know…"

"So what else?" he frowned.

"Ummm…I'm not saying I don't want to because I do…I guess I'm just intimidated, or I'm just kind of nervous. I know you're more…experienced. That's okay, only I'm definitely…not. So I guess I'm a little intimidated knowing you've been with girls who definitely are," she explained.

"Gabe, I thought you said you weren't a virgin," Vince reminded her suspiciously.

"I know! I know, and I wasn't…maybe I gave you the wrong impression sleeping with you right off the bat that way…" she blushed.

"Oh, no, Gabe; I don't think you're easy or anything," he assured her, back-tracking to see where he'd gone wrong.

"Good…I've just thought about it and I hardly know anything…I don't really have much experience…"

"Well, Gabe, I _like_ that you don't have a lot of experience. If anything it's a turn on," he admitted with a curiously smug look.

"It just makes me nervous…"

"…about what, exactly?" he inquired, cocking his head.

"…maybe not living up to something," she ventured, unsure of herself.

"…So you think I'll wish you'd gotten around more because you're bad in bed?" he grinned.

Gabrielle winced and looked away, pulling down her shirt to it's proper place.

"What?…Gabe…"

"So, are you telling me I _am_ bad?" she checked, forehead creased in confusion.

"What?!" he snapped, going back through his exact words. "No! Fuck. That's not what I'm saying. I just wondered if that's what you were worried I was gonna think. Gabe, it's like I said: I like that you're inexperienced….and if our one time is any indication, you've got nothin' to worry about; not bein' good is impossible," he assured her.

"Yea, huh?"

"Mmmhmmm….and, uh, when it comes to doin' somethin' you've never done, I'm happy to teach and show you," he smirked, kissing her neck.

She blushed but smiled, intertwining her fingers with his, where his hand rested on her stomach.

"I didn't mean for this…you said you weren't one anymore, so I assumed…."

"I understand. I just haven't…a lot. He told friends after the first time and started bragging about it. So I didn't want to after that but we did a few t -- this is **not** what you want to know," she realized, catching her ramblings.

"Not really, no"

She groaned and sunk her head back against the pillows.

"I don't particularly want to hear or think about anybody else touching you"

Gabrielle smiled and relaxed, turning onto her side to cuddle back into his chest. Vince was pleased with this and grabbed the remote again to turn the movie back on, much to Gabe's annoyance.

"…maybe I'll just go to bed…"

"Nah, why don't you stay in here tonight?" he offered.

"… …okay"

She maneuvered under the covers and he did the same after stripping down to his boxers. He pulled her to his side again and got back into the movie.

Seeing her half-watch the movie and otherwise stare at the comforter was kind of cute, and he inwardly laughed at himself for thinking _anything_ was adorable. This and the way she'd acted earlier, the blush and the nerves and the playfulness…it suddenly reminded him just how young she was. Her inexperience was expectable; she shouldn't be anything she wasn't. She was mature for her age, though; she'd been taking care of herself a lot for most of the past few years and had helped take care of them for a little over a year now. Still, she was young and he couldn't be blind to it, especially when she inadvertently shoved it in his face.

"Sorry…"

"Hmm?" she frowned, looking up at him.

"…nothing…you want a different movie?"

"No, go ahead and watch," she shook her head, kissing his side.

She fell asleep before it was over and was also the first person to wake in the morning. Their legs were intertwined and their arms touching each other, so she had to carefully withdraw from around him.

"You're bad at being sneaky"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you up but I have to shower and everything."

"Ugh, yea…shit. I should get up, too…fuuuuck," he groaned.

Gabrielle could hear the other two moving around and scurried to the bathroom so no 

one else would take over first.

"Sorry, Gabe; need to pee"

The door opened and Jesse's voice apologized just after Gabe turned off the water.

"At least you warned me, I guess"

"Aw, too bad; I like naked bodies," he cheered.

"Oh, shut up"

**Few Weeks Later**

"Hey," Gabe greeted, letting herself into Vince's room, where he was laying on his back on his bed, hands behind his head and music playing.

"Sup; how was dinner?" he questioned boredly.

"Fun"

She and the softball team had gone out to eat; they had a double-header that Saturday -- the first of their season -- and no practice Friday, so they went out then.

Vince just nodded upon hearing this news and looked back up to the ceiling before closing his eyes. Gabe narrowed her eyes curiously and stalked over to the bed, squeezing his ankle gently.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothin', I'm good," he rumbled.

Gabe remained disbelieving and turned down the music a little. When she returned, she squeezed his leg again, this time up his thigh. As predicted, this got his attention.

"You can talk to me"

"Nothing to talk about," he shrugged.

Gabrielle frowned and crawled onto the bed, sitting on his legs, just south of his waist.

"Come on. You should be excited! Races tomorrow and you haven't been in a long time now."

It was true. Dom had been back almost a month now and they had yet to show-face back at a race since a week before he was released. He hadn't wanted to be bombarded and overwhelmed right away and then they were just waiting for the best time, getting everything perfect. Now, apparently, was the right time.

"Yea, that'll be sweet…"

"Say it like you mean it," she scoffed.

"I do mean it; it'll be fun seein' everybody," he sighed, sitting up, pulling her directly into his lap. "You gonna ride with me?"

"Of course," she nodded, looping an arm around his neck and the hand into his hair, her other hand breezing over his stubbled chin.

Anybody close to the Toretto's knew Gabrielle was related, and she usually showed up with Leon or Jesse or Letty. Showing up _with_ Vince might cause some stir, but she wasn't a complete stranger to the scene.

She kissed his cheek bone, his earlobe, his jaw, his chin, and the corner of his mouth. She let him reciprocate with a soft kiss before tilting her head away.

"So, come on, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just let it go, Gabe," he instructed, dropping his forehead to her collar.

"No…unless there's someone else you're talking to…Dom?"

"No," he answered a little too quickly.

"Oh. Are you two fighting?"

"No, it's not that"

"Then what aren't you telling anyone?" she encouraged, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Jeeze! Why don't you just leave it alone?" he snapped.

"…maybe I just care," she suggested, letting her arms slip from around him to reach behind herself to remove his hands.

"Wait, wait," he sighed, shaking his head and pulling her back into his lap before she could get up and most likely leave. "I didn't mean to snap…I've just been thinking about how shit's changing. Now that Dom's back and everything…"

"You're not happy he's back?" she asked, surprised, leaning back on his legs a little to look him straight in his bright blue eyes.

"I am…everything was just different when he was here and now he's back and things are starting to change again."

"…changing how?"

"You don't see it?" he questioned, eye narrowed.

"What?"

"He just…controls everything. We used to joke and complain about it a little before, but since he'd been gone… … I know it sounds bad," he cut himself off.

"Say it anyway," she coaxed. "I'm on your side."

"Things were more laid-back the last year or so -- once things settled down after his sentencing. We've been more of a team than before. Now…ugh, I don't know. Shit's already more tense. Dom gets caught breaking the law and he's right back in jail; street racing definitely 

falls against his probation and his P.O. is a hard ass. I can already see him starting to take over everything again…which is fine, really; I can be laidback but I don't want him thinking he can run my life…again…"

"Then don't let him…" Gabe said, though she already knew that was too simple.

"Things aren't that easy with Dom -- never are. Something about him…I dunno."

"So you're saying you can't stand up to him," Gabe asked, surprised.

"It's not like that…things were just always a certain way for a long time. He missed that everything's changed."

"Well he's changed, too, Vince"

"Still wants his hand in fucking everything," Vince groaned.

"…is there more to this than I'm getting?" Gabrielle asked quietly, frowning at the inflection in his tone.

"Nah…I'm just annoyed," he shook his head.

"Well…you took care of everyone and everything. Dom knows that and he has to know he can't play god all the time, not anymore," Gabe pointed out.

"Yea, just hope he's not in denial," Vince sighed heavily, burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.

Gabrielle scraped her short nails over his scalp, pressing herself closer against him. Vince began kissing her neck, the hair on his chin scraping wonderfully over the sensitive skin. She pulled his head back to kiss him, meeting his tongue with her own. He took control, delving deeply into her mouth. He deftly pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting the dark tresses fall around her shoulders, tugging on the ends of it. She moaned softly as her head was tilted up and he latched his mouth to her neck and adjusted her perfectly onto his hips.

He pulled her so she stood tall on her knees so he was level with her breasts, nuzzling his face between them. This pulled another moan from her and she lowered her head, dropping her cheek to the top of his head, arms around his broad shoulders. He looked up and their lips met again; Gabe found it odd to be higher than him, head titled down, but enjoyed it, reciprocating the deep kiss. When he did pull her back down into his lap, she could feel him hardening through her shorts and his jeans. He paused when he felt the friction, withdrawing a bit.

Ever since their little talk weeks previous, he got hesitant around her sometimes, unsure how much would end up being too much. She promised she'd let him know but he still was nervous to get carried away before either of them realized.

"…Vince, it's okay."

"It is?"

She smiled and nodded. They'd been fooling around a couple nights before, but got interrupted by Jesse hollering for them. He grinned and drug his teeth over her bottom lip, turning and lowering them so she was beneath him against the bed.

"Vince, the door"

He looked up, only then noticing the wide-open doorway, and got off the bed, snapping the door shut and flipping the lock. He walked back to the bed slowly, heart moving much faster.

He elected to leave the CD playing in the stereo and crawled back onto the bed, up her body. He stood on his knees, looking down at her contemplatively, studying her; she seemed so small. Licking his lip, he grabbed the bottom of her shirt, slowly peeling it up and over her head, tossing it aside. He groaned appreciatively, complying when she pushed up his t-shirt, removing it for her and tossing it, too, to the floor. He was eager to continue exploring her body, but her hands reached his abdomen first, tracing the defined muscles. She reached as high as she could up his hard chest, grabbing his arm to pull him down to her. His body covered hers, bare flesh pressed together.

"…Gabe, you're so beautiful," he murmured, feeling up her sides.

His kiss was deep but slow and he took his time touching every bit of exposed skin he could find. He undid her bra quite quickly, pulling the fabric from her body, just staring at her exposed breasts for a moment before descending to them. A hand fondled one breast while his mouth manipulated the other, teasing it with his tongue, his teeth.

Gabe arched into him, hands grabbing his shoulders. A tense weight settled low in her stomach and heat spread lower, and she pulled him back up to kiss him, her hands falling to the waist of his jeans. They came off and her shorts followed, along with her panties. She was naked before him as he dropped her underwear to the carpet, staying low where he was to dip his head between her legs. She gasped as soon as he made contact, her whole body tensing.

"What?" he frowned, looking up.

"I've just…never…"

"Really?" he grinned, raised eyebrow in genuine surprise.

"Uh-huh," she nodded shyly, biting her bottom lip.

He smirked and pushed his hands under her bottom, lifting her up to him. Gabe gasped again, breathing heavily and clutching at the bed. She writhed against the blankets but Vince kept her hips relatively still until he brought her to the edge and let her fall over.

Gabe's eyes were still closed in satisfaction when he started kissing his way back up her body.

"Been missin' out?" he asked next to her ear.

She nodded, opening her eyes to meet his. Their lips met again, their breathing becoming more ragged. With Vince's member, hardened in arousal, pressing against her thigh, her own arousal was once again building. Only the thin material of his boxers remained on his body, and her hands slowly found their way to them to push them down.

"Okay, this…you can still say no," Vince checked, holding his boxers in place, stopping her.

His lust-filled eyes told her it would be hard for him to stop, but he would. She knew he'd stop, even now, if she needed him to.

Contrary to what plenty of people probably assumed, Vince wasn't "that guy" who'd pressure a girl into sex once they'd started fooling around. He just wasn't. He was okay with stopping, even if it wasn't necessarily what _he'd_ had in mind. Maybe because he knew it'd happen eventually. Maybe he just knew it was the right thing to do. Maybe he knew he'd hate himself; after all, he'd kill someone who pressured Mia, and every girl is someone's sister or pseudo-sister, as they case was. Maybe, in Gabrielle's case, he knew he'd have a pissed-off best friend and housemate.

"I don't want to say no," she promised, pushing the underwear away.

He kicked them away and Gabe was left staring at his naked body, held above hers, this time completely sober in every way as she did so. Somewhat shyly, she reached down, slowly circling her fingers around him. Vince gasped, tensing, when her small, cool hand wrapped around the heat of his groin. He'd wondered if she'd be bold, and he liked it but stilled her hand after only a couple moments.

"One minute," he instructed, voice deep and husky.

Twisting his upper body, he leaned across the bed and opened the little drawer of the night table, fumbling around a bit before coming up with a condom, which he ripped open to get situated.

Gabe might not have been able to recall the fine details of their first…escapade together, but this time she could. His lips on hers. His teeth on her skin. His hands in her hair, over her breasts, under her ass….everywhere, really. Her hands on his neck, his chest, grabbing at his back. Her feet grazing up the back of his legs. The feeling of him inside her, the feeling of him everywhere. Their breath had played ragged on each other, ghosting over sweat-dampened skin, until they found release.

"You okay?"

Their breathing was returned to normal and Vince had just shifted off her, onto his side.

"Mmhmm," Gabe sighed, turning with him to remain against his chest.

"You sure?"

"Yea, I'm great. Promise," she nodded, kissing his chest.

His breath hitched for a fraction of a second before he relaxed, playing with her hair idly.

"Are _you_ okay?" she asked back, just to check.

"I'm great. You're just perfect," he sighed.

Gabe snorted at this but accepted his kiss, biting his bottom lip softly before she pulled away. She was starting to pick up on his slight biting, and she thought it was kind of fun, frisky, and he seemed to like it so it was even more fun.

"I wouldn't say perfect. Close, but not quite," she corrected with a smug little look.

He just laughed at her and wrapped her tighter in his arms.

"Close enough for me"

**As Always, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**


	5. A Departure in the Night

**Well, here you are. 5th Chapter. it's pretty sure compared to some of my other ones; it used to be longer but i reorganized some things so now it's the shortest so far. The next chapter should be up pretty speedily to finish what this chapter starts. :D **

**Enjoy**

**R and R! **

* * *

**A Departure in the Night  
**_If this feeling is bad then I don't want to be right  
__What I've got in my soul gives me the highest delight  
__Yea, it's better than drugs  
__In fact, it's sent from above  
__**-Love Addict by Family Force 5**_

It was race time again.

Gabe had been showing up with Vince for a month now, and tonight Gabrielle was with Letty and Mia, leaning on the hood of Letty's car. The boys were setting up another race, standing a little ways down the street. They could see from where they sat and Gabe could tell Leon was trying to get in, as he'd said he would. Gabe had heard Leon, Vince, and Jesse talking in the basement about racing more. They agreed not to challenge Dom but also agreed they needed to be more of a team, and that meant whoever wanted to race should get to race. Vince had raced once since getting back on the scene with Dom and it was earlier that week; now, it seemed, it was Leon's turn to get back in.

"I swear, if he doesn't let Leon in," Letty muttered threateningly. "We just got things smoothed over again and if he doesn't …well…it's gonna put all of our planning to waist. It'll only be you having fun with it," Letty pouted.

Gabe just smiled. They did indeed have a plan. Well, it was Letty's idea. They'd gone out and bought some sexy little somethings for their respective men. During their shopping adventure, there had been a lot of sex talking. Naturally, Letty had more varying stories and some wild ones, and she wasn't shy to share them.

"Well it looks like you'll be fine cuz I think Le got in," Gabe pointed out.

Vince was making his way over and looked pleased, but the look disappeared when Hector started yelling to warn for cops.

"Fuck," Letty spat, sliding off her hood.

Gabe stood and her arm was immediately caught in a large hand, pulling her away. Vince all but shoved her towards his passenger side, which she whipped open to climb in. He tore out of the place his car was parked, swerving other cars and people in a way that made Gabe nervous, even though she was confident in his driving.

"Whoa…" she winced when he came close to another car before jumping on an entrance ramp.

"It's okay….hey, call Leon or somebody to let 'em know we're fine and on our way back home"

"…he's not picking up," Gabe complained, immediately assuming the worst when Leon 

didn't answer his cell.

"Chill, Gabe; he could just be in the middle of a mess…or have a girl in the car," Vince reminded her.

"Yea…"

"It's _okay_ Gabe"

Once everyone was safe and free back at the house, there was a collective sigh of relief and they were all able to relax and enjoy tehselves.Jesse was off with Katie, arm slung around her and beer in hand. This was Katie's second or third race and she'd decided she liked them, though they still were a little nerve-wrecking for her.

"You want a drink?" Vince offered, already getting one for himself.

"No…you should come downstairs with me," she suggested, slipping her arms around his waist from behind.

"Huh? Why?" he asked, craning his neck around to look at her.

"Because I have something for you," she smiled sweetly, letting go of him slowly and heading for the stairs.

On her way, she passed Letty, who gave her a subtle high-five. Vince then watched Letty stalk over to Dom.

"Let's go upstairs"

"We have guests," Dom told her.

"How about we go upstairs so I can show you something"

They hurried off and Vince looked back to the stairs in time to see Gabe slip out of sight. Intrigued, he set down his beer and made a line to the stairs, descending after her. He saw her going into his room and he followed, finding her standing at the foot of his bed. Seeing her there with a wicked but somehow still innocent look, he shut his door behind him.

"And what do you have for me?" he questioned, his eyes darting around.

"Something," she smiled, ushering him over with a finger. "Me and Letty went to the mall yesterday."

"So she _is_ behind this…" he mused, slowly making his way over.

"Her idea but _she's_ not down here," Gabe dismissed, giving him a quick kiss and peeling his shirt off, dropping it carelessly.

He nodded slowly, still looking for the catch or the twist. She just smirked, biting her lip in a way that suggested she wasn't completely sure of herself. Still, he waited to go along with whatever, still intrigued. She hooked a finger on his belt, turning and pushing him lightly so he'd sit on the bed.

After one last shy look, she unbuttoned her skirt and pulled down the zipper. She then turned her back to him, shimmying out of the short skirt, stepping out of the fabric. Vince's jaw might've dropped just a little and his eyebrows rose at the black, lacy fabric that hugged tight around her hips, disappearing down the middle of her ass, the roundness of her cheeks left uncovered. He'd just registered to reach for her when she turned around. Seeing his reaction encouraged her and she stepped forward, one leg between his knees and the other to the side. He grabbed her leg just above her knee, slowly caressing up her smooth thigh. His hand was going towards the crotch of her panties when she pushed his shoulder so he'd lay down. He scooted up to the pillows, reluctant to move away but understanding this was what she was getting at.

Her fingers curled under the hem of her shirt, pulling it up enough to show a little more of her flat stomach. This grabbed his attention and he stared, waiting. She smiled cheekily and let the black shirt drop back down and she turned again, wriggling her little hips for his benefit. He groaned in appreciation, and she slowly stripped the shirt over her head, folding it slowly, bending to set it on her skirt. Vince pushed himself up on his hands, staring at her slender back, waiting for her to turn around. When she did, he very much loved the black, lacey push-up bra.

All of her underwear was always cute but comparatively plain, which was reasonable and he liked it -- low maintenance. However, this was a very nice and exciting surprise.

She approached the bed and he waited, mouth still slightly open, eyes roaming her body and taking it all in. The lingerie gave her an exotic look, but a small part of him wondered if she knew exactly what to do next. This only made it all more enticing; he always found her innocence to be a huge turn-on, knowing he'd been her first for so much. In a way it made him feel as if he'd corrupted her -- especially with the looks he caught Leon giving him now and then.

She crawled up the bed a little ways and all he could really do was watch her cleavage, pressed up. Even as she undid his belt, he was looking between her small hands and her breasts. He lifted his hips obligingly so she could remove the belt, standing up on her knees to pull it out and drop it away. She dropped to her hands and dipped her head, working the button of his jeans open with her mouth, using her teeth to pull his zipper, too.

She barely touched the hardness underneath the zipper, crawling the rest of the way up him to finally kiss him. He groaned into her mouth and grabbed her hips, pulling her down to grind against her, a guttural sound escaping his throat as he did so. She moaned as well but lifted herself away from him anyway, smiling against his lips. His hands remained where they were, slowly moving down over her ass, pushing down on the thin material.

"Yo, why'd y -- oh!"

Both of the bed's occupants whipped their attention to the door when it opened and found Jesse and Katie in the doorway, both surprised and amused, Jesse half drunk.

"Fuck, Jesse!" Vince growled, flipping over immediately and yanking a cover over Gabrielle's half-naked body.

"Nice undies, Gabe," Katie laughed, pulling Jesse away and closing the door after her.

"Fuckin' boy," Vince complained, jumping out of bed to lock the door.

He turned back to find Gabe had crawled to the edge of the bed, standing on her knees. She slipped her arms around his middle and kissed his chest.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Vince mused, eyeing her hungrily.

"I dunno…what do you _want_ to do?" she shrugged, a playful look in her eye and a smile on her face.

"…now that's a dangerous question," he murmured smugly.

…

"So where'd you get these, anyway?" Vince asked, rolling over to grab the risqué panties, twirling them around his finger when he turned back to her.

"A store," she laughed, grabbing for them; they'd been laying together for quite some time now but Vince had finally decided he didn't want to lay in the quiet anymore since it was still loud upstairs.

"Some store," he commented, impressed, keeping hold of the slight material. "I like 'em," he informed her, flipping to his back and holding them up in front of him.

"Don't get too attached; I don't think they'll look good on you"

"No but they're sexy as fuck on you," he complimented, kissing her and nipping her bottom lip lightly.

"Then you'll be happy I now have a _few_ pair of fun little panties," she smiled devilishly.

"Oh, really?"

"Yea…"

"Letty really did corrupt you, didn't she?' he chuckled.

"No…it was fun "

She fell asleep quickly a little while later and Vince did the same for a while, too, but was fully dressed long before he should be on a weekend, standing next to the bed. He'd been about to leave but felt guilty, so he'd been watching Gabe sleep for a little while. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back over the bed. He placed a knee on the side of the bed he slept on, leaning over to place a hand to either side of her.

"Gabe," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "Gabe."

She shrugged him away when his breath tickled over her ear, burrowing closer to her pillow.

"Gabe, c'mon," he sighed a little louder, shifting his weight to one hand to rub her bare shoulder, pulling the covers up higher over her back in afterthought.

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up for a sec…"

"Time's it?" she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.

"Early…"

"Vince, it's 3:00"

"I know, babe…I j--"

"And you're dressed," she realized, turning onto her back.

"I know that, too. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving"

"At 3:00 in the morning?"

"Yea, I owe Dom…gotta do some work for him"

"…it's a Saturday," she reasoned, rubbing at her squinted eyes; he'd done this once before, weeks ago, but that was the middle of the week and made more sense.

"Yea, I can't sleep," he fibbed.

"Well come back to bed; I'll rub your back or something," she offered.

"Nah, I don't wanna keep you up," he declined, kissing her quickly.

"Don't go; just stay," she pleaded, rubbing his arm that was propped by her head.

"Can't"

"Vince"

"Babe, I made a promise. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She sighed ruefully and returned his kiss, rolling onto her side and watched him go and click off the light after himself. She heard more than one pair of feet upstairs and mentally cursed Dom as she pulled the covers closer.

* * *

Gabrielle woke again the next morning to the alarm she'd set on her phone. She let the ringtone play out it's whole song before she rolled onto her back, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Vince was nowhere to be seen and the sheets were cold on his side. Groaning, she got up, washed-up, and changed into her shorts and sleeveless jersey, #2. It was while she was eating that she noticed how quiet the house was and that **everyone** was gone.

She left a few minutes later, parking near the field and joining her team in the dugout. Nothing was wrong until they were out in leftfield warming up.

"So did you guys hear there was another one of those truck hijackings?" Hayley asked conversationally.

"Really?" Another girl questioned.

"Yea, it was making national news and everything. It happened early this morning…like, 5:00 or so. It came on as breaking news," Hayley nodded.

"Yea, I was checking my mail and they had a thing about it on my homepage. So crazy," Emily interjected.

"…hasn't there just been like 3 so far?" Gabe asked, the wheels already turning in her head.

"Yea, but that's a lot, Gabe"

"I know! I was just wondering if I'd missed anything."

"Hammons! Warm Hayley up!"

Gabe waved to acknowledge she'd heard her coach and went to grab a mask to warm-up the tall blonde for pitching.

Vince, Leon, Jesse, and Letty showed up towards the end of the game looking tired but clean; they must've stopped home to shower. Gabe glanced their way but didn't get as excited as Katie did about their presence. It all fit, suddenly, the hijackings and Vince's absences. She had noticed he'd been gone for the first hijacking, actually, but nothing had been strange about _that_ nighttime departure. Then the second hijacking had happened on a night she'd been gone to Katie's. Now…well, now it was all just a little _too_ perfect to be a coincidence. She didn't want to believe it, but somehow she just knew she was right.

So, she focused on the game but ventured over to them between the two -- Saturday's were double-headers -- because she knew it would be the right thing.

"Hey, baby; you did good," Vince congratulated, giving her a quick kiss before pulling her into his lap.

"Thanks"

"Yeah, girl; my little catcher is makin' me proud," Leon grinned, actual pride in his raspy voice. "It's proof we're related."

Leon had been a baseball star in high school and had even played in his freshmen year in college. He didn't like school, though, and couldn't stay, even for baseball. So he dropped out but had played on a few pick-up teams here and there as a pitcher. He still loved it.

"You could still play if you weren't so _old_!"

"Old? Old!"

Leon took a swipe at her and narrowly missed Vince when she ducked it.

"Leon, you hurt my catcher and you won't be lifting a wrench or any other tool for at least a month."

"Hey Mr. DeTavio; how's it goin'?" Leon greeted.

Mark DeTavio was an aging man with the start of a belly. He was Gabe's coach and had been for the past couple years and his son had played ball with Leon since little league.

"Good as long as we keep winning. Hammons, you gonna eat?"

"Yea," she sighed, hopping up to join the girls getting hotdogs someone's had was grilling.

Gabrielle hung around with the girls as long as she could after the game. Leon had gotten a schedule for future games and left with Letty and Jesse in Jesse's car. Vince had hung around, though, leaning against her car, his own car parked a few places down. Casually, she arranged to go hang out with Katie and Hayley after the came to avoid the house.

After loitering, Gabe trudged over to her car, summoning up a smile for Vince before unlocking her trunk for her bag.

"So what's up?" Vince questioned.

Gabe shrugged and pulled off her cleats and socks for some flip-flops.

"Babe…"

"I was surprised you guys came…aren't you tired?"

"Nah, not really," he shrugged. "Fell asleep at the garage for a while, woke up and showered at home before coming over.

"Yea, see any semi-trucks along the way?"

His look faltered, varying from surprised, confused, and nervous. He opened his mouth to start asking "what?" but seemed too frozen-up.

"Yea…that's what I thought," she nodded sadly.

"Gabe…"

"I'm going over to Katie's…so I'll see you later tonight or something"

"Look…" he groaned.

"Later, Vince"

He stood back and watched her go with a look that seemed somehow both nervous and pissed-off. Gabe felt horrible and wanted to turn back to him, but didn't know what to say or how she felt, so it was probably best to take both space and time for just a little bit.

* * *


	6. Explain

**So, after much consideration, i've decided i do like how i made things play out here. **

**It was originally different, but i decided not to make things to tough right now cuz, ya know, there might be trouble in the future -- who knows. So that's why the update took a little while; i was considering the re-write. Plus, i just started a couple summer classes so i'm getting used to all of that. **

**anyway. hopefully u enjoy.**

**won't be able to update til the weekend at the earliest. Sorry, but i'll be out of town and away from the computer**

* * *

**Explain  
**_If I turn into another  
__Dig me up from under what is covering  
__The better part of me  
__Remind me that we'll always have each other  
__**-Dig by Incubus**_

Gabe hung around Katie's house for quite a while. The other girl seemed to sense something was wrong but let it go when Gabe insisted she didn't want to talk about it.

It was dark when Gabe pulled into the driveway again, but the living room lights were still on and it really wasn't _that_ late. Letty and Leon were playing PS2 and Jesse was on his computer, sitting on the couch.

"V's downstairs. I think he expected you home earlier than this," Letty told her, giving her a significant look.

Gabe nodded, understanding that Vince had told Letty she knew. Did everyone know?

"Nah, V's been sleepin' most of the afternoon. Sounds like he's awake now, though…turn it down or he won't even know you're in the room," Leon chuckled.

Gabe nodded; she should've known Leon would've been all over her with explanations if he suspected she knew. She descended the stairs and went to her room first, throwing her jersey in the hamper. She peeked across the small wanna-be living room, where Vince's door was closed. Light spilled from around the edges, though, so she went over and let herself in anyway.

Vince was seated at the far edge of his bed, facing away from the door when he heard the door open. He figured it was Letty around to bother him again. Lifting his head from his hands, he looked over his shoulder and stood quickly when he was it was Gabe instead. In her black sweats with 'Softball' written down the leg and her little white t-shirt, she looked as cute and innocent as ever, but he'd never saw her this scary before.

He was intimidated. He, who'd stared down many men. He, who'd been in more fights than he could count and usually came out on top. He, a man's man and Dom's go-to-guy, was currently scared of a girl about 5 years his junior and half his size, who was wearing what could really only be described as pajamas.

He had become pathetic. _She_ had somehow made him pathetic without even trying and he hadn't even minded until just then. Could he even call himself a man anymore? His chest was tight with the mere thought of what she'd have to say. When she shut the door behind her, he felt oddly as if he'd just been caged with a lion; there was nothing he could say to undo the situation. He found himself wishing he'd told everyone that she knew so he could at least tag-team this argument in attempts to actually reason around her; this would have only pissed her off and gotten the house into an uproar, however.

"Hey," she greeted shyly, hands behind her back, fiddling with the door knob.

He nodded and eyed her carefully, waiting for the bomb to drop; a proverbial bomb, as he'd ruled an actual physical attack improbable.

"I don't really even know what to say," she sighed, tucking her side-swept bangs back.

Vince frowned and thought quickly, trying to decide if this was good or bad. He settled on 'bad' from the way she was acting, fidgety and unsettled.

"Look, I know I lied," he sighed, getting this started because waiting was so much worse.

"Yea, you did. Just for the record, I'm glad you're not trying to now, but it's more than that. _**What**_ are you guys thinking?"

And there it was.

"Look, Gabe, there's some things you don't understand"

Like that was going to stop her.

"So explain it to me cuz I … I can't even fathom…"

"It's a lot of things. Dom owes some people some money, so he came up with some ideas"

"Great…"

"We figure we can pay off the debt pretty quick and maybe make some quick cash on the side before calling it quits," he added, figuring honest was gonna go over best for once; lying hadn't gotten him anywhere productive with her yet.

"So, Dom's hardly been out of jail and he's already found a great way to get himself thrown back in, but this time he's taking everyone with him….I guess he got bored last time. Brilliant," she scoffed, shaking her head.

"Hey, it's not like that," he defended. "And no one's going to prison."

"Vince! Hello! Robbery? Hijacking? Police investigate these things and they'll send you to prison," she told him slowly.

"Yea, I get that; I'm not stupid," he snapped.

"Then stop acting like it"

"It's not Dom's fault he owes," he continued to defend.

"_**He**_ got himself in debt in the first place"

"Gabe! There's some shit you don't know…and it's not even your business"

Gabe flinched at his loud outburst and the harsh tone, but stayed.

"Vince, you're hijacking semi trucks," she repeated, as if making him hear it once more 

would cause him an epiphany … or maybe making herself say it again would magically make her understand.

"I know! You just don't -- ugh!"

In his frustration, he didn't know what to say. He was on the defensive and he hated it. He was heated now and could tell it was starting to rub off on her; besides, he knew he'd be able to say less rational things as he got angrier.

"Just don't what? I'm not the crazy one. I'm not putting my friends on the line for _my_ mess," she shot back, unable to see reason in this.

"Don't talk about what you don't fucking know and don't talk about Dom like that, alright? It's not like he's holding a gun to all of our heads."

"Well, for not wanting Dom to control everything you do, you're doing a good job of just handing it over to him," she told him.

Vince looked like he'd been slapped and his face tightened, body tensed. Gabe felt like this might've been too much, but it was true.

"How can you say that to me?" he asked lowly. "I confide in you and you use it against me?"

"No one's around to hear, Vince…and you're yelling and cursing at me for no reason. What you're doing is dangerous, and illegal --" she tried to dispute.

"So's racing"

"This is _so_ much different than that, and you know it," she groaned, shoulders slumping.

"All I know is you're acting all high and mighty. You know I'm not perfect, never have been; you can't pick and choose what you do or don't like about me and make me into something you want," he ranted.

"Vince, I'm not --"

"Just lay-off about it. This is something I'm doing, like it or not," he told her firmly.

"Vi --"

She was cut-off by his lips slamming into hers; he'd grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to him. His kiss was hard and forceful as he held her tightly. He pushed a hand into her hair, grabbing a fistful of her dark locks, and wrapped his other arm low around her waist. Gabe turned her head away after a few moments, already breathing heavily.

"Vince, what're you doing?" she asked, taken aback.

"This'll be angry sex"

Letty's smug words came back to her, recalling an angry but satisfying night with Dom; she'd been told the story when they had shopped together. This certainly was spur-of-the-moment but she chose to take the older girl's advice and let it go.

She let Vince claim her lips again, his mouth once again demanding. She moaned into his mouth and he pulled her hips up to his quickly. He started pushing her back towards the bed and just picked her up when she fumbled while trying to matching his long strides going backwards. He all-but tossed her onto the bed, and Gabe was startled by this but something about it was sexy as he crawled up her body, pressing her to the bed with his weight. He only pulled away to strip away her clothes and remove his jeans and underwear. He left his white beater on, which Gabe grabbed at, clinging to it when he pushed her legs up and thrust his way into her.

**TFATF**

Gabe and Vince both were still breathing heavily when she rolled over to shakily get out of bed and grab her shirt.

"Where you goin'?"

Vince was out of bed surprisingly fast, her elbow in hand. She ran a hand through her extremely tousled hair and glanced up at him but quickly looked away.

"What?" Vince pressed, shaking her arm lightly.

"I'm just going to go…"

"Why…are you not okay? Did I hurt you?" he demanded suddenly.

"No…no. It was…fun," she admitted shyly. "But…it was weird because you were so mad"

"So…"

"So it's just…I don't know," she sighed when she couldn't tug her arm from him. "Mad and sex just aren't two things that usually go together. I was upset and you were pissed-off. It was just strange to know that…"

"So you didn't like it? Cuz I could've sworn you enjoyed it…once…twice…yea, two very enjoyable times," Vince smirked.

"No, it's not that…it just doesn't change that you're mad…" Gabe shrugged bashfully.

Vince studied her carefully for a minute or two. Standing there half-dressed and tousled, she looked hot…and fuckable. This was all besides the point, though, as she was also currently small and scared. She was always hot, it was the scared he had to take care of.

"Gabe … being mad doesn't matter. I have a temper, I'm gonna get mad from time to time. That doesn't change the fact that I love you," he assured her.

This got her attention and she looked up immediately.

"What?" she demanded.

"…what?"

"Say it again"

"… it doesn't change the fact I love you?" he frowned.

"Just the last part…"

"I love you," he told her slowly, catching on. "I thought you knew that."

"I figured…but it's something I have to hear. I liked to hear it."

"Okay," he nodded, kissing her bruised lips softly.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

"I know"

She smiled and they just stood together and Vince studied the scattered small marks littering her otherwise perfect skin. One towards the dip of her breasts would remain the longest; she'd whimpered when he'd manipulated the skin in his mouth, bursting blood vessels. He felt a little bad at the suddenness of what he'd done, but she said he hadn't hurt her and she had enjoyed it, so that was a consolation.

He kissed her again, careful to keep it soft. He lifted her up around his waist, but less aggressively this time around.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" he whispered.

"Mmmhmm," Gabe nodded, sliding her arms around his neck before he settled them carefully back onto the bed.

She smiled into their kiss and slowly stripped his shirt away. He left hers on, just kissing her, her lips, neck, face, as he moved slowly within her.

"Get some rest," he whispered behind her ear.

She settled into the pillows and put her arm over his arm when he cuddled up behind her once he got into bed after a quick trip to the bathroom. They remained that way, spooning, until they both drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Gabe…hey, wake up…"

"Hmmm?" Gabe breathed, rolling slowly onto her back.

"You gonna get up and get something to eat?" Vince questioned, sitting up in bed.

"No," she declined, rubbing her eyes.

"Okay. I'll be back."

Gabe watched him go and sat up, stretching her stiff body slowly. Once she was a little more awake she pulled on the rest of her clothes and washed up in the bathroom. One hickey was still pretty noticeable on her neck so she covered it up quickly before going to her room, 

messing around on her laptop.

Vince came back down the stairs a while later and Gabe greeted him from her chair so she'd know where he was.

"Thought you were still gonna be in bed"

"No, I'm just not hungry," she explained, logging out and turning from her desk.

"Well you should be"

Gabe just shrugged and leaned back in her cushy desk chair, studying Vince from her position.

"Look, Gabe, here's the thing…Dom isn't making me do this -- he's not forcing _any_ of us. We're doin' it out of loyalty; we got his back just like he's got ours. Me…I owe Dom a lot. Well, I mostly owe his dad. I owe their family so much but Tony ain't alive to payback, so I figure I owe it to Dom."

"It just doesn't seem worth it"

"I know," he sighed heavily, sitting on the edge of her bed nearest her chair, "but that's my call. We each made a choice on our own to do this. Respect that."

He was much calmer than the previous night and seemed more patient, but his tone firmly left no room for argument.

Gabrielle chewed on her bottom lip, still feeling very torn.

"Do you hate me?"

She shook her head.

"Are you gonna talk to me?"

She looked up and shrugged, but her small smile gave her away as being purposefully cheeky. He groaned in annoyance and pulled her from her chair to sit across his lap, kissing her temple.

"This doesn't mean I like it," she finally spoke-up.

"I know. I don't expect you to"

She nodded, relaxing against him, and they just sat there for a little while, both still a little tired.

"Well I'm gonna take a shower…wanna join?"

Gabe answered affirmatively and Vince simply stood up, carrying her "princess style" to the bathroom. They both stripped down and got in, helping each other wash; no washcloths were needed. When it came to Vince's hair, she couldn't reach all that well, so she stepped out of the shower and scampered back to her room in a towel to change while Vince finished.

"G, your phone was ringin'," Jesse hollered when she dashed past his room.

"Okay. Thanks."

Once her hair was dried and tamed, she hurried upstairs and plopped next to Leon on 

the couch.

"So guess who I just talked to," she smiled winningly.

"…who?" he asked around a mouthful of something.

"My mom"

"Yea, so?" he asked disinterestedly.

"So she wants me to come over for dinner on Monday, as in tomorrow, cuz they're going to be gone for my actual birthday. You're invited.

"Ah…yea, let them know I'm busy," Leon evaded.

"With what?"

"Make up a story. You'll think of something"

"No! It's for my birthday!"

"I'm gonna be here on your _actual_ birthday," Leon reminded her.

"…so? You're invited. You know if you don't come my mom will bug me about it. Plus, she'll keep calling and inviting until you come."

"Whatever. Your parents hardly like me…okay, so your dad tolerates me," Leon disregarded, well aware his Aunt and Uncle didn't approve of a lot of his choices.

"No, Leon, he likes you. Besides, your not coming is like a personal offense to my mom. Just come. I'll be there," she persuaded lovingly.

"Ugh…I wish I didn't love you. Yea, I'll come," he agreed, scowling all the while to make it known he was far from pleased.

"Good. I already told her you would," she smiled happily, prancing to the kitchen for food. "Oh, hey Dom."

"Hey Gabe"

He was sitting at the table, gathering up paperwork from the garage. She ignored him, not at all happy with him at the moment, and got some leftovers while he got his things and went upstairs. She heard Vince and Jesse come up soon after. She sat at the table to eat for a little bit before picking up her things to go to the living room, which was when the yelling started. She froze and listened to Dom and Letty's muffled but still loud voices. Something slammed and she jumped, staring around the now-silent room.

"Wanna…go to a movie?" Vince offered, nudging her leg from where he sat.

"Uh-huh"

"Is this a date or are we all invited?" Jesse inquired.

"Nah. Let's all go"

Everyone jumped at the chance and they clambered into cars and off to a theater, catching a movie and finding distractions to stay out past dinner.

* * *

**REVIEW!!**

**Oh, and a quick author's note...****  
**

Venus as a girl** -- i LOVE ur reviews, so i meant to comment on something earlier but then i forgot. It was a chapter or two ago (ish) and you mentioned something about Mia being a little jealous of Vince focusing his attention on Gabe instead of her now. I don't know if i've mentioned it in posted chap yet (if not, i'm pretty positive it's mentioned in the future) but she's even younger than Gabe -- a senior in highschool so, like., 17ish. So in my little world, Vince didn't have a thing with her. I toyed around with having Mia and Gabe be the same age and, yes, have some tension there at first ... but i figure i already had the "upset-about-the-relationship" thing covered with Leon...and eventually he won't be the only one.**

**so i just wanted to comment on that in case you were still wondering. **thnx


	7. What a Happy Birthday

* * *

**What a Happy Birthday**

"Aw, Le, who taught you to dress so nice?" Gabrielle asked, patting Leon's shoulder lovingly.

"You"

"Oh yea. I forgot"

It was Monday and Leon looked good in a white button-down, even though he announced firmly his refusal to wear anything but jeans with it.

"Let's just go before I change my mind"

Gabe tossed Leon the keys to her car, since her mom detested his car with its decals and, what she called, its "obvious negative and illegal intentions."

Her old house was in a much different neighborhood, but it didn't take all that long to get there. When they did pull-in, Gabe knocked once and let them into the large house.

"Oh, good, you're right on time"

Her mom came bustling down the curved staircase and gave Gabe a hug and kiss and gave Leon a hug, complimenting his appearance.

"Gabe, I'll get you a soda. Leon, dear, would you like a drink?"

"Uh, yea…surprise me," he nodded, waiting for her to leave. "Did she expect me to look _bad_?" he whispered, following Gabe to the small living room.

"She called you 'dear'," Gabe pointed out.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean, anyway?" he asked suspiciously.

"That you're dear to her heart?"

"Maybe," he chuckled. "Thanks Aunt Claire," he nodded, accepting the drink she handed him without question; after all, alcohol was alcohol and he figured he might be thankful for it by the end of the night.

"The food's almost done. Oh, and your nephews are here. Your father's changing Nathan's diaper and Luke thinks he's helping."

"Wow, aren't they running you ragged," Gabe asked, impressed.

"Oh, Gabrielle, we're not _that_ old. Your sister and Joshua wanted a weekend so they brought them down on the way."

"Oh"

"Yes…it is a little tiring 24/7, especially since your father usually tries to get some work done, but we don't see them often and it's only for a few days. Unlike with you and your sister,we get to send them back," she laughed.

"Aunt Gabey?"

"Hi, Lucas, get out here," Gabe smiled, waving him into the room, making room for him between her and Leon.

"Love you," he smiled, hugging her when he hopped onto the couch.

"Aw, love you, too, cutie"

"Who are you?" he frowned, his little face scrunched up in wonder as he turned his eyes to Leon.

"My name's Leon. I'm cousins with Aunt Gabe and your mommy," Leon explained.

"You can just call him Uncle Leon," Gabe simplified.

"Okay…I'm hungry"

"The food will be ready soon"

"Ah, hello honey. Leon," Scott greeted, waltzing in with a small bundle in his arms.

"Aw, Nathan! Oh, he's gotten big…he's gonna be such a stud," Gabe smiled up, jumping up to look at her newest nephew.

Her father handed him over and she sat back down with the brown-eyed boy in the crook of her arm.

"That's my baby brother," Luke told Leon. "Mommy says we have to play nice with him and always touch him softly,"

"That's right," Leon nodded knowingly, though he had little actual experience with infants.

All things considered, dinner went pretty well until they had dessert -- ice cream just because of Nathan.

"So, Gabrielle, your sister tells me you have a boyfriend…I thought maybe you'd have asked to invite him tonight so we could meet him," her mother mentioned casually, though there was nothing casual about it.

Gabe froze and Leon almost choked, hiding it in his glass of water.

"Well we hadn't been together _that_ long, so I thought bringing him home to the parents was a little….premature"

"Oh, I see…well, how did you meet him?"

"Through Leon. They're good friends"

"Yea, we work together and we go back," Leon affirmed.

"Oh…so how old is he?"

"Oh, mom, age is just a number"

"And apparently it's a big one…"

"He's 24, but I'm almost 20," she added quickly.

"Yea, this is her 20th birthday dinner," Leon nodded supportively.

"And Vince is a good guy, mom," Gabe promised.

"Vince…does he live at the house with you?" Scott asked, sure he'd heard this name before.

"….yea?" Gabe drew-out slowly.

"You're living with him!"

"Mom, it's not like _that_. I didn't **move-in** with him. We just lived together and started dating afterwards. It's not a big deal."

"Easy-access is what it is," Claire grumbled.

"Mom!" Gabe gasped, shocked her mother even said such a thing; it would be funny if she wasn't defending herself.

"Claire, let's not be hasty. After all, Gabe has been talking about moving-out with Katie and Hayley," her father reasoned.

"You're leaving?" Leon frowned, appalled.

"No"

"No?"

"I haven't thought anything through yet," she told everyone. "Mom, dad -- don't worry about it. This isn't the time to talk about it; this is a nice dinner. Vince treats me right, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Look, given what we know, I have doubts about what kind of man he is," her mom sighed. "No, offense, Leon, honey."

"Oh, none taken," he nodded sarcastically.

"Now, Claire, Gabe is right. This is a nice family dinner. She seems fine and we both know Leon is protective, so I think we can trust them on this. Gabrielle is growing up…unfortunately, this is her decision; she's old enough to choose," Scott mediated, winking down at the table to Gabe.

"Thank you, dad"

"I just think we should head-off mistakes. Don't parents do that? Help in situations that are unreasonable for their children?" Claire asked her husband, just as if Gabe wasn't there.

"I'm not in a 'situation,' mom, I'm fine. I'm 19 and I'm dating -- that's what people my age do. I have my summer classes, I work, I play softball, I hang out, and I date…that's normal."

"So it's just dating? At your age you should be in relationships with at least some long-term, marriage potential. What about marrying this Vince?"

Leon had to stifle a laugh again; luckily, he hadn't taken a drink yet.

"Leon clearly thinks it's a bad idea; he's laughing at it," Claire pointed-out mischievously.

"Because we haven't been together that long," Gabe explained quickly, kicking Leon hard under the table.

"Ow!"

"Are you okay Uncle Leon?" Lucas, who was now finished with his ice cream, asked worriedly, patting his large arm.

"I'm fine, little man"

"Good…grandma, can we all watch cartoons now?"

"Yes, it is our toon-time, isn't it, Luke?" Scott smiled.

"Yay! Me and grandpa always watch together at night," Luke told them, dropping out of his chair.

"I'm still getting used to this grandpa thing," Scott laughed, some vain part of him sure he was too young for such a title.

The debate was left alone and they watched cartoons until Lucas's bedtime, when they left.

"Marriage!?" Leon spat once they were half way home, turning the music down.

"Shut up! You _know_ how she is. She's a mom. It's just how they are; they want marriages and grandkids and it's their job to pester about it."

"But what about you? Are you _seriously_ thinking about marriage?" he demanded.

"Well I'm not right now. I want to be older"

"With **V**?!"

"I don't know. It depends how things go; I can't say 100 percent right now -- who knows."

"Vince?….Vince?!"

"Stop that, Leon," Gabe chided; they were back towards the house now and she very much didn't want this conversation to continue on at home. "We've had this talk."

"But…but, marriage?!" he sputtered.

"Oh my God, Leon -- No! We've been together … a few months. Marriage isn't in the picture. Jeeze….you're going crazy," Gabe laughed.

"I just was surprised when marriage came up…"

"Leon, _**I**_ didn't bring it up, so it doesn't count. I love Vince but we haven't been together long enough for me to want to go off and get married right now," Gabrielle explained.

"Okay…okay, I'm calming down…so were you two fighting the other day? Letty thought you were…"

"Oh, yea…it's because I know"

"You know…what?"

"I **know**…about the heists"

"What! He _told_ you?" Leon sputtered, shocked and outraged.

"No, but thanks for having confidence in me. I just put things together…"

"Do you have anything to say?" he asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably in the driver's seat as he pulled onto their street.

"I've said what I have to say. I don't like it and you can't make me…but I don't hate you."

"Okay"

He nodded, looking displeased, and cut the engine in front of the house. They trudged inside and didn't see anyone until they got downstairs.

"Dom and Letty were at it again," Jesse explained, sprawled on his bed with Katie watching a movie.

"Aw, Gabe, you look cute," Katie complimented, sitting up.

"Thanks"

"Had to dress up for the richies, huh?" Katie chuckled. "Know the feeling."

"Really?" Jesse asked, eyes wide and suddenly worried.

"Yea, but don't worry. They're really laid back…and they're not around all the time anyway, which is nice for me…and Hayley when she's around.

"Speaking of Katie and Hayley, why didn't you tell me you were gonna live with them?" Leon drilled.

"You're moving out?" Jesse pouted.

"You're moving in!" Katie beamed.

"No! Leon, you're staring trouble on purpose… … just like my mother," she finished slowly.

Leon looked highly offended by this and Gabe left the room, going over to see Vince, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking fresh from a shower.

"Hey, did you guys have a good night?" she asked from the doorway.

"Yea…you look good"

"Thank you," she smiled, turning slowly in her white and yellow sundress before nudging the door shut and approaching him on the bed, bending to kiss his cheek. "Are you okay?" she frowned; he looked a little troubled.

"I think so"

"Think? You don't know?"

He sighed in a contemplative way before taking her hips and guiding her into his lap so she was straddling it.

"…you never told me you had a lot of money…"

"I'm not," she informed him. "My parents are, but I'm not."

"Well, rich family -- same thing," he conceded to the difference.

"No it's not. The money isn't mine"

"But you're rich all the same, really"

"…why does it matter? Who cares I didn't tell you"

"I just don't know why you've never mentioned it…are you just waiting for a trust fund boy while you slum around wi--"

Gabe shushed him with a hand over his mouth, face fallen.

"I just assumed you knew or had heard through Jesse and Leon; I've never even thought about it… … … is that _really_ what you thought?" she asked softly.

"…I dunno. I already feel like I don't deserve you sometimes and --"

"Do I make you feel that way?" she asked, eyes sad.

"No, no, you don't at all, Gabe. It's me…I don't know…Sometimes I just feel like that and now…"

"Now…what? Nothing's different"

"Now I know you've got all this money --"

"Vince, no I do not!" Gabe insisted; it might've been funny if it weren't so annoying. "I don't have money. Well, I have money, but nothing excessive."

"It's just that I should be taking care of you and providing for you…"

"Go ahead. I need to be taken care of and helped as much as I ever have. I'm still me. Nothing else matters."

"Yea…sorry," he nodded, kissing her.

"It's okay," she sighed, relaxing. "It's not the first time my family and money have complicated things. It just doesn't matter….okay?"

"Mmmhmm"

"Do you promise"

"Yea…I think so"

"…that's better than 'no'," she smiled, pushing her fingers through his just-dried hair.

"Yea…so how about this moving-out deal?" he questioned further.

"Now aren't we the little eavesdropper? If you'd been eavesdropping properly you would've also heard that I'm not…necessarily."

"But you might…necessarily"

"I don't know," she admitted, sitting back on his lap and adjusting herself so her feet were stretched out behind him rather than tucked under her.

"…why would you want to leave?"

"Umm…to actually be out on my own," she explained, contemplating her own reasons. "I knew it would be crowded around here and everything once Dom moved back. If it matters, I started talking to Hayley and Katie about it long before you and I got together," she added hopefully.

"I guess that counts for something…but apparently not enough to make you stay"

"Well it's not like we'll never be together…._if_ I move out. I just feel like…maybe it'll be good for me to be on my own. Like, I went from living off my parents -- which is normal -- to living off my cousin and his friends."

"You don't live off us," Vince denied. "You live with us but I don't think you're some…moocher or something."

"I just feel like maybe I've never really been off on my own, and maybe I want to be…I don't know. Although, you make me want to stay a lot more than I did before," she added with a little smile.

"Good," he sighed, burying his face in her shoulder, nuzzling the nape of her neck.

"Are you okay?" she checked, letting him do this while she played with his hair.

"Yea, I just got in an argument earlier with Dom," he mumbled against her skin.

"About what?"

"Ah, don't worry about it. We're over it," he assured her, tugging her a little tighter on his lap.

"'kay."

They sat this way for some time and Gabrielle started thinking about the evening's dinner. Marriage certainly wasn't even a blip on her radar right now but she was also completely certain she considered this relationship long term. She couldn't even begin to picture herself with anyone else….she tried, for a few minutes, but couldn't imagine being with anybody besides him; she didn't want to touch anybody else or have anybody else touch her. She wanted to ask if he felt the same way but worried it might freak him out just a little and she didn't want to discuss that on top of all the other things they'd had to talk about recently.

"Vince, I love you," she whispered, kissing the side of his head.

He looked up and searched her face with a puzzled look before throwing a half-grin.

"I love you, too"

He stood and moved them around so she was laying on her back and he could lay on her, resting his head on her stomach, hands tucked up under her shoulder blades.

"Vince…what're you thinking right now?"

"Ummm….I'm thinking about what to get you for your birthday. What do you want?" he questioned, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Whatever you get me"

"Seriously. I'm a horrible present guy"

"Anything you pick will be fine"

"No, that's just what girls say, but they don't mean it. You can't use that trick on me"

"It's not a trick!"

"Well tell me one thing you want and I'll get you that and something else that I pick"

"Um….well, my birthday is Wednesday, so on Thursday we should spend the whole day together. Well, maybe not the whole day…but you could convince Dom you deserve half the day off. We can spend all day together and then all night together…it'll be nice," she proposed.

"_All_ day and _all_ night…sounds good to me," he grinned, crawling up to kiss her chin, her bottom lip, and full on her mouth.

Gabe reciprocated this kiss happily, content with the situation and the world, for the moment. But only a moment.

"What?" she asked when he stopped.

"Thursday?" he repeated her, eyes still closed.

"Yea. Day after my birthday…why?"

"How about tomorrow?" he suggested pushing himself up a little further to look down at her.

"I'm going out with some of the girls; what's wrong with Thursday?" she frowned, trying to think through other plans the team might have.

"Just cuz…I can't stay with you all night"

"Wh -- oh," she nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry. We can do it another time, I promise; we'll plan another night"

"No, it's okay. You'll think of something else"

"No, babe, I wanna do it; it would be great," he told her readily.

"And whatever you get me will be just as great," she smiled, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll go change and we can watch a movie or something."

"Gabe…"

"It's fine," she promised. "I'll be right back…unless you don't want to."

"No, I want to," he nodded, shifting aside so she could hop back over to her room, shutting the door softly behind her to find little pajama shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt.

She had decided she wanted to do her best to play aloof to the whole heist scandal. She didn't want any part of it, so she was going to show no interest. She'd promised herself not to endorse it but not make a stink about it, either; it would be best that way.

However, it wasn't so easy to dutifully roll with this decision when the situation was thrust at her, especially so soon after she'd even decided such a thing. She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face vigorously, trying to relax. This whole ordeal scared her, frankly; it was unsafe and what if they got caught?

She pushed the thoughts aside and went back over to Vince's room, where he was still sprawled on the dark covers of his bed. She picked a movie for them and put it in the player before crawling back onto the bed next to him, snuggling under the arm he willing wrapped around her.

Gabe very much didn't want to lose the feeling of perfect contentment she'd felt while sitting in his lap earlier. She felt the same way about him, of course, but didn't enjoy the tension the heists brought to the evening; she did her best to let it slip away, rubbing his side with the hand draped over his waist. He kissed the side of her head in return and let her loop her leg over his.

**TFATF**

"Letty, Mia, my favorite girls…" Vince greeted, finally cornering the two girls up in Mia's room.

"Uh, Gabe's the only one who's in love with you, puts up with you, and puts _out_ for you…shouldn't she be your favorite?" Letty questioned.

"….Letty, Mia, my two favorite girls besides Gabe," he amended with an annoyed look.

"What do you want, Vince?" Mia asked knowingly.

"Help. It's Gabe's birthday tomorrow…"

"And you haven't gotten her anything? We're not fixing your mistakes," Mia spoke right up.

"Get over yourself. I have an idea…I just don't know how to do it all…"

"Okay. If your idea sucks we'll help you because you at least tried," Mia assured him, more agreeable.

"Oh, gee, thanks Mia," Vince glared, slouching against the doorjamb.

"Well come on, V, spit it out," Letty urged.

"Well, Gabe's 20 this year --"

"You're right so far," Mia nodded encouragingly.

"Hey, fuck you, alright," he grumbled, cruel thoughts floating through his head as he turned and stomp down the stairs.

"V…V, she's just joking. Let me help you," Letty insisted, chasing after him and stopping him in the kitchen.

"Alright, well she's turning 20 so I wanna get twenty things…but I don't know what"

"…hey, that's actually a good idea," Mia complimented, listening-in from the stairway.

"Well sometimes my brain has things called thoughts," he nodded sarcastically.

"Let's all be nice," Letty intervened, surprised she was actual a mediator in a situation. "Okay, so we have to come up with twenty things that we can get by tomorrow…why didn't you think of this sooner?" she groaned.

"I thought of it last night. I figured I could weasel something out of her, but the one thing she mentioned is something I couldn't manage…"

"What'd she say?" Letty asked, intrigued to know what lengths Vince wouldn't go for her.

"Spend the whole day together Thursday"

"Vince! Dom would've given you a day off," Letty rolled her eyes, smacking him upside the head.

"Ow! No shit, Let, but she wanted to spend all day _and_ all night together, and we both know I don't get excused from _that_. Now let's get on with this, huh?" he glared.

"Right," she agreed quickly.

The trio sat around the kitchen table and discussed for a while, talking somewhat quietly just in case.

**TFATF**

**TFATF**

By the end of her birthday, Gabrielle had some gift cards from Jesse, a couple cute tops from Mia, some shoes from Letty and Dom (she could only assume Dom had paid and Letty had picked because she couldn't imagine Dom having a voice in choosing some wedge heels), and tickets to an upcoming baseball game from Leon; he, of course, had the ticket to accompany her.

She didn't see Vince almost all day, but his presents came all day long. It started waking up next to a fluffy teddy bear, finding candy waiting for her at the kitchen table, and a slim leather watch in the passenger seat of the car. When she got to school she opened her book and found a slip of paper for a free back massage courtesy of Vincent Cruz (this was in Mia's handwriting, which was expectable because she was sure he'd never call himself Vincent), and Katie gave her a Starbucks gift card after their first class, which she promptly used before her only other summer class. Katie also gave her a picture frame with a snapshot of her leaning back against Vince leaning against the picnic table that Mia had taken while they barbequed; Katie confessed to picking the cute frame but promised Vince had selected the picture.

When she got back to her car to go back to the Fort, a bouquet of roses were in the passenger seat and when she actually started the car she finally noticed a small, silver heart keychain with a "G" etched into the face. No one was home when she got there, but down in her room there was a thin box with a black, lace babydoll lingerie that certainly wouldn't be covering much and, even in the empty house, she laid it back in the box sheepishly, checking over her shoulder -- she had no trouble believing Vince had chosen this. She slid the box under her bed and went to her computer, opening it find a slip of paper for a 'Free getaway for a night with Vincent Cruz' -- once again in Mia's handwriting. She found more candy hiding in her cup of pens and a brochure for the LA zoo was under the TV remote when she grabbed it with a promise to go -- she figured this was kind of a tease at her because she'd been watching 'Animal Planet' lately when she got bored.

There were somehow more flowers on the kitchen table, but the mystery was solved when Mia pounded down the stairs with a pendant in the outline of a heart with a 'V' in the middle; Mia had demanded to know if she was having fun, readily told her that she and Letty had helped Vince and gotten Katie in on it, but refused to tell Gabe how many presents there would be. Gabe was already starting to think it was excessive when she left for her softball game. In her bat bag there was a LA Dodgers baseball schedule with "**pick a game**" scrawled on it -- he adamantly insisted he hadn't stole the idea from Leon.

Leon showed up with Mia to the game with more flowers -- Mia suggested she put them all in Vince's room to keep it smelling good -- so she now had red, pink, and white roses; she made Leon hold onto them but he got embarrassed and handed them over to Mia. Vince showed up right on time, nodding over to her when she smiled and waved. He congratulated her right after the game but slipped away when the coach called them back to the dugout for a few minutes. He wasn't at the house yet when she pulled in -- Dom had sent him out for some things for the barbeque -- but he'd been downstairs at some point because there was a little pink bag on her desk; inside, there were fuzzy handcuffs and "love dice," much to her embarrassment, since Leon was next door and could come in at any moment -- this bag, too, went under the bed.

The last material gift was a silver ring, simply two thin bands twisted together. He gave it to her after dinner but told her -- albeit awkwardly -- that he didn't really mean it as a "promise ring" because that seemed to contrived for him, so she wore it on the other hand. The "20th gift", as she caught on, was simply him. She retrieved a few gifts from under her bed and made Vince leave his room for a few minutes so she could change and the rest of the night was all sorts of celebratory fun.

Happy Birthday to Gabrielle.

* * *

**So this chapter isn't exactly the most exciting, but the story gets a little more intersting in a few chaps. whoopie. **

**REVIEW!**


	8. MIA

**Whoa, it's been forever. Sorry about that. No excusees, really, just me being ridiculous. **

**But i hope you enjoy...i kindda murged a few chapters together for this so i'm hoping it flows alright. **

**Enjoy.**

**Review.**

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**Missing In Action  
**_You take the breath right out of me  
__Left a hole where my heart should be  
__You gotta fight just to make it through  
__Cuz I will be the death of you  
__**-Breath by Breaking Benjamin**_

A week later and Gabe's teachers apparently were unaware that her birthday had ever happened and she was stuck with more homework than she liked. She had now been stuck writing a paper for … well, far too long.

"Hey, babe…still workin'?" Vince asked, opening the door a fraction to poke his head in.

"Yea," she sighed, waving him in.

"You wanna use that massage about now?" he asked, leaning on the back of her chair.

"No…but you can still give me one"

He rubbed her shoulders lightly and she dropped her hands from the keyboard for a few.

"Why don't you take a break?"

"Because I've procrastinated too long. It's due tomorrow…almost done, though. One more page and I can go to bed!"

"It's not _that_ late"

"Well I'm kind of tired and I just want this weekend to be over," she groaned.

"…you should just take a break for a while and come back to this later. You've been workin' hard. If you're almost done, it'll be easy to finish up later, yea?" he enticed.

"But it's easier to finish now"

"No, it'll be better for you to walk away…"

"Why, are _you_ going to finish it for me?"

His hands removed themselves from her shoulders and he paused for a few moments before going for the door.

"Vince, what? I'm not gonna go off and get distracted, but I can work with you in here for a little bit"

"Nah, forget it"

"Vince…"

"I'm just gonna leave you to the stuff I'm clearly not smart enough for," he dismissed himself.

"What?…you know that's not what I meant," she insisted, frowning.

"Whatever. Do your thing. I'll catch you later"

She got up and followed him out the door but he slammed the door to his room and she didn't want to argue so she gave him time to cool off. Surely he knew she hadn't meant anything by the statement. It was fine.

It didn't happen as simply and quickly as she'd figured, but Vince did get over the moment. He just acknowledged he'd taken it wrong, though he still seemed a little salty for a bit. Even after they'd gotten past it, his moody demeanor persisted and she wasn't really sure what happened. Leon assured her that it wasn't her and it was "just work." After a lot of thinking, she decided this meant something to do with the heists, not the garage. So she resolved to not let any of her stress from school show around him, and to not complain to him about anything else for a while until he was feeling more at ease.

The upside to the previous busy weekend was that the present week was much slower as far as her classes were concerned, so that cut down on half of her previous stress.

"Hey Dom," she greeted with a quick smile after one of her afternoonc lasses; she gotten over her grand annoyance with him for starting the heists and just let it be.

He nodded, hardly looking up from whatever he was working on in the garage, but she ignored this. Inside the house, she expected a little warmer of a welcome but was met with near silence. She heard some whispering in the living room, where everyone else except Vince was gathered; Leon, Mia, and Jesse were on the couch and Letty was hanging over the arm of her chair to get her head closer and add her two cents. They clammed up and looked her way quickly but relaxed when they saw her.

"…am I missing something?" she frowned, looking from face to face.

"Yea…Dom and Vince just got in a big, blow-out fight," Leon nodded, making a face. "Pretty bad one; thought it was going to come to flyin' fists."

"Wow….so where's Vince's at?"

"Took off a while ago," Jesse shrugged.

"…has anyone even tried calling him?" she asked, noting their lack of concern.

"Just let him be, Gabe. When he gets this mad, it's best to let him take time and cool it. And he was seriously pissed, like…I wasn't even about to get in his way. He'll be back when he's calm; just let him get himself there," Leon instructed.

Gabe nodded understandingly and went downstairs to put her purse down and kick off her shoes. She checked her mail out of boredom and, after much thought, called Vince anyway. Unsurprisingly, she got voicemail, and just left a short message that she'd heard about the fight and to call if he needed anything.

Vince hadn't shown face around the house when Gabe crawled into bed to watch some TV once it started getting late. She was considering turning if off when he did show up. She heard him come down the stairs and he stood in her doorway for a little bit before climbing onto her bed; Gabe was laying on her back and Vince laid half on top of her, using her chest as a pillow. The TV was on quietly but she was starting to get tired and she was pretty sure Vince wasn't even watching. She sighed and stretched a little, twirling his hair to amuse herself.

" …I love you…"

"I know," he grinned, eyes still closed, turning his head a little to kiss her side.

"… ….you're not going to say it back?" she questioned after waiting a little while.

"You know I love you"

"Yea," she nodded. "It's just still nice to hear."

They fell quiet again and she traced her finger, feather light, over the dragon tattoo on his right arm. She liked to do this, enjoying the intricacy.

"Ugh!" he groaned loudly, turning his face down, his breath warm through her shirt. "Gabe, it's just not something I say much…I've never had call to," he attempted to explain. "It's just…I've heard it said and not meant too many times."

"But you mean it when you sat it to me, right?"

"Course"

"Then why's it so hard to say if you know you mean it?" she frowned, cocking her head as she looked down at him.

"I'm afraid it'll start meaning less or something…cuz it does mean something"

"Well I think if you're really in love with someone, then you can't say it enough."

"Well my dad said it to my mom plenty but that never made it true"

Gabrielle was a little taken aback by the blunt, casual confession. She knew Vince's past was anything but golden, but she'd never heard him come right out and openly talk about it.

"…I guess it just depends. I think 'I Love You' is one of those things you can just tell when someone means….you know?"

"… … yea…"

"But I think I get where you're coming from, so … I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he shook his head, kissing the skin just above her tank top.

As they were both tired, they soon crawled under the covers and fell asleep. Gabe had, at some point, rolled onto her back and Vince was on his side, now propped up on his elbow. He'd been sleeping lightly and woke up, simply watching her in the dim room; the sun was beginning to rise but they both had hours left to sleep.

"Gabe ….Gabe, waaaake up," he whispered softly, rubbing her stomach.

She inhaled deeply and slowly opened her eyes, turning to him after taking a moment to focus.

"What?…"

Vince disliked the task he now had.

"Babe, I gotta go…"

"Stay," she sighed, voice soft and light.

He sighed but shook his head, kissing her cheek; she always made him want to stay but he couldn't.

"I'll be back"

"Be safe"

"We will," he promised, slipping out to join the others upstairs.

* * *

Gabe woke up to an empty bed but, more often than not, this was the case on such nights. She did check all the rooms in the basement, though, just to be sure. Sure enough, she was the only one down there, so she got ready at her own pace, unafraid of needing to work around others, getting beat to the bathroom, or someone walked in to relieve themselves while she washed up. Make-up was thrown on in her room, as were clothes, and she did her hair in the bathroom since she had all the time; her own choice of music played from her room all the while. She was going to make the most of the empty basement and get some fun out of a crappy situation.

Mia was upstairs and they shared an annoyed look while they ate together quietly so they could head out. Gabe went to her classes and then went to the store to work with Mia, surprised that no one was there with her; Dom or one of the guys usually stopped around in the afternoon when it started to get busy (school letting out) when she or Gabe had to work the time alone.

"Hey, how's it been in here?" she asked, dropping her purse behind the counter, sitting on a stool since the place was currently empty.

"Not bad…it's gotten steady recently. I've been alone all day, if that interests you," Mia complained.

"Seriously?"

"Yea, and no one is answering at the garage, the house, or any cell phones," she filled her in.

"Well…ummm," Gabe frowned, feeling as if she should have the answers since she was older.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, right?" Mia tried to confirm.

"Right…maybe they had two jobs two nights in a row and it's out of town so they just bunked over somewhere," Gabe suggested.

"Yeah…yeah, why didn't they tell us?" Mia frowned.

"…because they don't actually know what it feels like to be the ones left behind here," she groaned.

This question was despite what she'd told Vince only two nights ago. Gabe had gone to Katie's without telling anyone and inadvertently left her phone on the center console in her car. Apparently it had gotten some of the guys worried, but Leon was cool with it when she explain what had happened. Vince wasn't quite as accepting of the accident; he'd complained until she made a thoughtless quip that now he "knew what it felt like." This had pissed him off and she'd done some quick talking to take it back a little, but he'd remained grouchy about it for a while.

Still, in reality, he had no idea what it was like. It was hardly tolerable to know for a fact he was out doing something dangerous and illegal and having no contact.

"Well you think they'd at least call when they saw how many times I called all of them," Mia argued.

"Maybe they don't have their phone? I don't know," Gabe groaned, well aware they were grasping at straws.

"…so let's order out tonight," Mia nodded, readily changing the particular subject.

"Yea…Chinese?"

Mia nodded and they finished at the store, closing and heading straight home. They ordered the food and ate it while watching some movies, avoiding any mention of everyone else's absence. They went to bed late, but Gabe couldn't fall asleep. There wasn't any periodic snoring from the next room, no music, no video games and quiet cursing, no nothing.

And then there was creaking on the stairs. She sat up quickly and clicked her lamp on, waiting to see if it would be one of the guys….she seriously hoped it was since she wasn't in much of a position to defend herself or run away if it was anyone else. She hadn't heard cars, either…

"Can't sleep either?"

"Mia," Gabe sighed, hand over her heart.

"Sorry"

"It's okay…I just got a little freaked and, no, I can't…this house is hardly ever this quiet."

"I know, it's weirding me out. Can't I sleep down here with you?"

"Yea, come on in; I was just about to invite you," Gabe smiled, flipping the covers up on the other side.

Mia smiled and scurried across the room, jumping in the bed.

"Uh…have you and V…"

"Not in here," Gabe laughed, cuddling into her pillow; it felt good to have proof someone else was around.

Living in a house full of people made it weird to go to bed in silence and with Mia on the second floor, silence is all there'd been.

"But you do…"

"Yea"

"…is it fun?"

"Yea," Gabe kept smiling, glad Mia couldn't see her blush.

"I've never…is he big?"

"Mia!"

"What? I'm just asking…I'm curious, okay? I mean, sure, he's kind of like a second brother or something, but I've heard a thing or two from girls at races…"

"Ugh, go to sleep, Mia"

They opened and closed the store together again the next day and then made dinner together; neither was eager to leave the other alone. They had a sort of silent agreement that they should stay together incase they heard something. They even camped-out in the living room that night for a pseudo sleepover; Gabe was on the couch and Mia reclined in one of the armchairs, blankets tucked around them.

"So I'm supposed to go to Long Beach for a few days with some friends; we're staying in a condo…"

"Oh, yea, I remember you telling me," Gabe nodded, adjusting her pillow.

"Well I'm supposed to leave tomorrow…but I think I'll just tell them I can't go…"

"Don't do that, Mia. I'm fine, here. If I don't like it, I'll go to Katie's; don't' worry about it."

"Yea…but I want to be around if we find something out; I can always go meet them out there if they get back after tomorrow."

"That's true"

"Because I definitely want to be here to see for myself they're okay…or I want to be here with you if --- Gabe, what if they're not okay?"

"I still feel like we'd hear about it if they weren't, Mi. If they were in the hospital, they call next of kin; if they were in jail, police would be around," Gabe shrugged.

"Well do you think they'd really go to the hospital? How would you explain the kinds of injuries they might have?" Mia pointed out.

"A car accident? I don't know. They'd think of something; I'm sure they'd go to the hospital."

"Yea, you're right…Dom's so stupid for all of this. He told me when Vince told him you figured it out….God, I was so pissed off. Who does he think he is? I know he has debts, but this will just land him back in prison. It's all I can think about because sometimes I hear him and Letty leave…"

"I know the feeling…"

"I don't know what I would do. If they get caught in the act, they're _all _going to prison. Dom's all I have left…"  
Hearing the tears in Mia's voice brought some of Gabe's on and she swiped at her eye quickly.

"I mean, I seriously don't know what would happen. I only work at the store, and I'd have the house, store, and garage to take care of. I'd lose everything, have no place to stay, no money ---"

"Mia, hold on. Stop ranting really quick. _If_ something happens, I'm not gonna bail on you---"

"You can't quit school and work; anyway, even that wouldn't be enough"

"I'm not talking about that. You could live with me…at my parents' if we really had do. We could keep working at the store, close the garage, and….we could probably rent out the house, you know? We'd still have to pay on the garage, though…"

"Hector could probably hook us up with people to work it; he owes Dom some favors"

"See? We'd work something out. You're just…you're not alone, okay? I'd make sure you were just fine," Gabe promised; it seemed along morbid lines to plan things like this out, but it was probably best to know what they'd do in a worse case scenario.

"You're right…but it still freaks me out."

"Well, duh," Gabe nodded.

"Because he'd be gone for more than two years, they all would, and I don't know how I made it last time," Mia sniffed.

"Mia, stop it," Gabe complained, burying his face in her pillow brought up from her room.

"I'm sorry"

They fell quiet after that, trying their hardest to sleep. Gabe, for one, was awake most of the night, tossing and turning as quietly as she could. All she could do was think of what could have gone wrong. She couldn't imagine them in jail. Leon, her closest family who she'd always spent the most time with. Jesse, who might as well be family since he'd been joined at the hip with Leon for almost as long as she could remember. And Vince…what would she do if he got sent to prison for years. Wait for him? Move on? What was best, which would she be able to live with? Nothing made sense but she couldn't think of much else. Tears stained her cheeks, but she remained as quiet as she could to let Mia rest.

Even washing her face with cold water more than once didn't help wake her up much the next morning. She was physically tired and mentally/emotionally exhausted. She made it through class, though, and trudged to her softball game in relatively low spirits.

"Gabe, what's _up_?" Hayley complained, sitting on her lap in the dugout late in the game.

"I'm so tired," Gabe told her, resting her head on her friend's arm.

"Nicole, why don't you throw the pads on. Hammons, come on with me for a few"

Gabe nudged Hayley off her lap and followed her coach back behind the dugout.

"Alright, talk to me"

"What?"

"Gabrielle, don't mistake me for stupid. I'm not trying to be mean, but you've been off today. I believe the girls would say: 'Gabe, you trippin'," he grinned with little humor.

"Yea, I know. I'm sorry," she nodded, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Hey, if you're tired then you're tired. I'm just worried something's wrong and you're not okay. Is that cousin of yours lookin' after you? I noticed he's not here," he perceived.

"Oh, yea…I don't know where he is right now," she admitted.

"Oh yeah? He in trouble?"

"I don't think so…him and some of the guys just kind of took off and didn't say much about it," she shrugged. "He'd just kind of M.I.A. right now and I've been worried; maybe that's why I haven't been sleeping very well."

"…are you eating? My daughter doesn't eat when she's anxious," he questioned, eyes narrowed.

"Yea. Not as much as usual, but I have been," she told him truthfully.

"Alright. Cover first-base coach; we'll see if we can pull this one out," he nodded, clapping her on the shoulder and heading over to his place on the third base line.

It was a long game and wasn't anything Gabe particularly enjoyed, with the heat, the tiredness, and the losing.

"There's my favorite cousin. Yeah, lookin' good!"

Gabrielle whipped around when she heard Leon's voice, and there he was, climbing to sit on the top of the bleachers next to Jesse. A couple minutes later, Emily struck out and that was the end of the game.

"Alright, girls, pack up and take a seat; we'll have a quick talk before I send you home."

While the girls got to it, Coach DeTavio bypassed the dugout altogether.

"Isaacs, get over here"

Leon hopped off the bleachers and sauntered over to the older man, hands in his pockets.

"Sup; Gabe alright? Did she play at _all_?"

"She played but I took her out cuz she'd whipped. She hasn't been sleeping, not eating as much as usual; says it's cuz she's worried about you and your little friends…"

Leon ran a hand over his face, trying to think quick.

"I'm not saying you have to tell me details; you don't. I know not every single thing you so it 100 percent on the up, and I don't need to know more than that; you don't owe me anything. You know who you do owe? Gabe. She's your family, Leon, and she left home and lives with you now…you've always looked out for her, don't stop now."

"Yea, I hear you," Leon nodded slowly, thoroughly guilted.

"Okay, and I don't wanna hear something like this again…how would _you_ feel if she disappeared on _you_?" he pointed out.

"Touché"

Leon nodded and watched the old man go back to the dugout and talk the girls back up before letting them go. He went and told Jesse he was gonna ride home with Gabe and explained what Mr. DeTavio had wanted to say. Jesse waited up anyway to catch Katie, but Leon just waited on his own, leaning against the hood of Gabe's car. She hurried over with her bag, dropping it and grabbing him around the waist in a hug.

"Gabe, I'm _so_ sorry," Leon apologized, hugging her back tightly.

"I was so worried. Me and Mia were freaking out"

"I know, I'm sorry. That's why I came over here first thing…"

"Thanks"

"…come on. Get your stuff so we can head out; I'm gonna take you out for dinner."

"Can we wait a little; I want to shower first"

"You got it, chick. You wanna go somewhere nice, get dressed up or something? It's on me, either way."

"…sure. That'd be nice."

"Alright. Go on."

He took her keys from her hand and bent to get her bag for her while she went around to the other side and got in. They rode quietly and Leon didn't miss the fact she kept watching him, looking totally relieved. That is, until they pulled up to the house.

"Where's Vince? Why isn't he back?" she asked, quickly noting the absence of his car.

"He's fine. Him and Dom are just up at the garage finishing-up some things. I'd have told you if he wasn't alright," Leon assured her when they got out of the car. "Now, hurry that little butt up to go get ready; I'm hungry," he urged, patting her rear-end to hurry her up the driveway.

* * *

**Hey, so i hope that wasn't too bad. Things are about to get a little more interesting...maybe good, maybe bad. But i'm happy to actually getting to post those chaps. Yes, they're already done (have been for a long time) so if i get some reviews i'll get them posted.**

**It should be a good time. **

**So now that you've read, REVIEW! =)  
Thanks.**

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	9. Unless You Say It

**Sorry, it took longer than I'd planned to get around to posting this up, but it's a nice long chap...I added a bit of a cliff hanger =D  
So hopefully the wait wasn't too horrible and it turns out kind of worth it. **

**Enjoy****

* * *

****Unless You Say It  
**_Do you worry that you're not liked  
__How long 'til you break  
__You're happy cuz you smile  
__But how much can you fake  
__An ordinary boy, an ordinary name  
__But ordinary's just not good enough today  
__**-'Superman's Dead' by Our Lady Peace**_

Vince got back to the house with Dom when light was already starting to fade. He saw Gabe's car in front of the house and hurried up the porch and into the house, running down the stairs when she wasn't in the living room. She wasn't there, either, so he ran back up and chose Jesse for answers.

"Where's Gabe?" he demanded.

"Her and Leon headed out. They needed some bonding time; her coach, Mr D, gave him a guilt trip about us keepin' out like that. I mean, he already felt like shit anyway, but yea," Jesse nodded, working on his laptop, beer on the table next to him.

"So where'd they go?"

"Out to eat. He didn't mention where they were goin', but they decked-up pretty well and sashayed on outta here," he chuckled. "I heard him tellin' her how things are gonna change. I was talkin' to him while Gabe got ready and he said he felt like they weren't as close right now. They've always been kindda like best friends, ya know? I dunno; he felt like he's been letting her down and shit."

"They're not drifting apart cuz of me, are they?" Vince frowned, sitting down heavily next to his friend, glad Jesse was in a divulging mood.

"Nah. He even said…well…"

"What? Jess, I won't rat on you if it's somethin' Leon didn't plan to say to my face," Vince promised.

"He was just pissed off with himself cuz you were the only one to step up with Dom yesterday night about bein' gone so long and the girls worryin', like…you were looking out for her more or something. In hindsight I feel pretty shitty about it, too; it's not fair…especially after seein' Gabe."

"Why, what's wrong?" Vince demanded.

"She's just crapped-out. She doesn't have class tomorrow, though, so that's cool."

"Shit…we're assholes, man…"

"Well we're men; they'll blame it on that and get over it," Jesse shrugged, typing away on some computer program.

**TFATF**

"That was nice, Le," Gabe smiled, getting back into his car after dinner.

"Yea, true that…course it would be even cooler if we could go places like that not so dressed up," he chuckled, undoing a few top buttons of his shirt.

"Aw, it's not as fun then," she chuckled.

"Well, if I had your legs I could wear little skirts and then I'd like it to," he teased in a girly tone, letting his wrist fall limp before he started up his car.

They drove-thru McDonalds for ice cream because none of the restaurant's desserts sounded familiar so they didn't want to risk it. They ate in the parking lot and then went back to the fort.

"I mean it, you know; I want shit to change. I don't want this to be me just talking at you, aiight?"

"Yea"

"Good…cuz we used to do shit together and everything; we ain't so close lately and I feel like it's my fault," he groaned, looking over at her seriously for a moment.

"…you don't blame Vince, do you?" she frowned, suddenly realizing 'we haven't been close lately' could be code for 'we haven't been as close since you got with one of my best friends.'

"Nah…I hate to admit it but I think you and V is probably a good thing," he sighed. "You've helped each other out, I guess."

"Yea…"

"You really love him, huh?"

"Yea…that's not ridiculous, is it?"

"Why would it be?" Leon frowned.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Sometimes I just think back to when I thought he was just some brooding jerk who didn't have anything to say; okay, a hot, brooding jerk. But that seems like a lifetime ago, like a whole different _person_..."

"Yea, V's a guy you really gotta get to know to really understand him. He's complex"

"Who'd guess, huh?"

"Got that right. More to old Coyote than meets the eye, that's for damn sure," Leon nodded.

"Don't call him that"

"He'll always be kind of a loner, Gabe. Sometimes he needs to just be on his own and chill, like the other day. He's always had a temper; it's best if he just separates himself to bring it down. It's no reflection on you, or us….it's just how he deals. Besides, not many people get him…"

"Yea, that's true…"

"Don't worry, Gabe. It's not a bad thing, and he's shaping up"

"I guess I got lucky, huh?" she smiled, resting her head back and watching scenery flash by as he entered the freeway.

"I think V's the one who got lucky, G"

"Why do you say that? Vince says things like that, too, sometimes…"

"Think about it. You're not like the girls we've usually got hanging around. They're just an invitation for trouble; you…you're a reason to try and keep trouble _away_. Jess and V got lucky….Dom, too."

"You'll find someone, Leon. I'll have to approve of her, of course, but you will. You're great."

"Aw, aren't you just a bucket of joy," he smiled.

"I'm a tired bucket of joy. I slept on the couch last night and Mia in the chair; the night before that she came and stayed in my room. It was too weird with the house so quiet," she explained, shuddering at the memory of the oddity.

"I'm sorry"

"…yea, it's the only time I complained about you _not_ being around to make noise," she smiled, trying to lighten up.

He grinned back and patted her leg. He exited the freeway then and it didn't take long to get home after that.

"I'm soooo tired. I'm going to bed," she groaned, opening the side door for them.

"Alright, sleep good"

"Oh, I will; thanks again," she smiled, kissing his cheek on their way towards the stairs.

"Anytime, babe," he nodded, mussing her hair on her way away from him; he plopped himself on the couch.

"How'd it go? "Jesse asked, still amused with his computer.

"We had a good time; I love that kid"

"She ain't so much of a kid," Jesse reminded him.

"She's my kid cousin and always will be"

"You don't think of her as a kid, do you Vince?" Jesse smirked, nudging the older man with his elbow.

"Why don't you just shut up," Vince growled, glancing over at Leon who was pretending he hadn't heard this. "She ain't mad at me, is she?" he asked, turning his attention to Leon.

"Nah, why?"

"She just blew through, so I was wondering…"

"Nope, just tired. Probably didn't even look in here ," Leon assured him.

Vince accepted this and hauled his ass of the couch, trooping down the stairs.

"Can't say the same for Mia and Dom. You missed it, bro. She chewed his ass out and then stormed off, already packed to meet her friends in Long Beach. It was sweet," Jesse snickered.

"Deserves it," Leon grinned, lounging back.

Vince was downstairs by then and only the light from their little living room gave away her exact location, curled on her side on her bed; her skirt and top were still rumpled on the carpet. She was quite still, but he was sure she wasn't asleep yet and quietly removed his shoes, dropped his jeans, pulled the covers up to slip into the bed behind her, and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back into his chest. She shifted a little but otherwise did nothing. He kissed the shell of her ear and the exposed side of her neck until she shrugged him away with a soft sigh.

"Vince, I'm tired"

"I know," he nodded, pulling her tighter. "I'm sorry…"

"Mmm…can we maybe talk about it more tomorrow? Please? I'm sorry."

"Don't be, babe; just go to sleep," he supported, relaxing against the pillows as well.

She slid her arm over his around her, rubbing his hand for a moment or two before relaxing completely.

**TFATF**

"V…yo, Vince, get your ass outta my bed," Leon hissed from the doorway, throwing a sock at his friend.

Vince groaned and turning his head to glare at Leon blearily.

"What the hell?"

"Get up and get ready for work," he instructed, throwing the matching sock, pegging Vince right in the face. "Yes, I still got it," he chuckled. "Up!"

"What're you so on about? You're not even dressed yet"

"Cuz _I_ am not going to the garage today. I'm chillin at the store with Gabe and I convinced Dom it's cool to open a little late to let her sleep."

"We don't have to," Gabe mumbled, now awake.

"Nah, Dom's cool with it"

"It's fine," she shrugged, rolling onto her back to grab one of the bunched up socks and fling them back at Leon.

"Like I say, you're definitely my cousin," he smiled adoringly when he caught the socks directly at his chest. "Work," he reminded Vince before going back upstairs.

Vince groaned and rolled onto his back, scrubbing at his eyes.

"Hey, just so you know…I think I'm going to use my getaway pass tonight," she informed him.

"Alright, sounds good," he approved.

"And I'm not mad at you…I'm not sure if I seemed upset last night"

"No, Leon told me you weren't...he told you why we were gone?"

"Yeah...back to back jobs. He told me you fought with Dom again," she told him casually.

He nodded slowly to confirm.

"I'm sorry we scared you and Mia," he told her honestly; he didn't know how he always got caught up in these things but, looking back on the past couple days, it was hard to believe they'd done it that way.

"I heard she had a blowout with Dom," Gabe grinned.

"Yea, he's gettin' it from all sides, I guess…"

"…I thought I'd be mad. I guess I'm just more relieved than anything," Gabe sighed, sitting and pulling her legs up to her chest to look down at him.

"Fine by me; I'll take a relieved Gabe over a pissed-off one any day," he retorted, sitting up to kiss her softly.

"Oh that's just so sweet"

"Work!" Leon hollered down the stairs.

Gabe smiled; it felt so good and so right having everyone back. Something so simple and taken for granted, but so essential to her happiness; she loved it. And there was Vince, back with her, and she didn't want him anywhere else.

The day at the store was actually pretty fun for Gabe, hanging around and chatting with Leon. He was extremely easily bored and she knew he'd much rather be at the garage working on cars. The guys came around lunch time, though, which gave him some time off from car magazines and idle chat.

Once the garage and store were both closed, Gabe and Vince headed out after he'd showered the grease and sweat from his body. They went out to eat and listened to some band at a café they'd been passing by, and then they ended up at the beach, the same place they'd went on their first sneak-away together.

Gabe was sitting on one of the cemented-in picnic tables just off the sand, Vince standing between her knees. They'd just gone for a little stroll down the beach and made their way back close to his car. Vince kissed her firmly, nibbling at her lips and pulling her to the edge of the table.

"We could have sex right here…that'd be kindda dirty, yea?" he muttered into her ear.

"No we can't"

"And why's that?"

"Cuz it's not _that_ dark and we're in public…anyone could come by…"

Vince just chuckled a bit and went right back to kissing her, slowly lowering her back against the table surface, leaning on her.

"It's not a popular area…kindda shitty, really…"

"It's _our_ area"

"All I'm sayin' is no one is gonna come," Vince mumbled, pushing his hands up her shirt. "Well, except us…"

"Vince, if you try to undo my pants, you're in trouble," she warned, letting a small moan slip past her lips when he squeezed her breast through her bra.

A few minutes later, someone most certainly did show up. Cars approached and screeched to halts, their lights surrounding the pair.

"What?…"

"No idea," he frowned.

They got over the deer-in-the-headlights feeling and Vince straightened up, blocking his eyes from the lights with a hand. Gabe pulled down her shirt and sat up, legs still fitted around him, turning her head in time to see a few cars cut their engines so there was less lights, and people started filing out; she still didn't recognize anyone.

"Oh, fuck"

"What? Who is it?" Gabe frowned, looking up to him for explanation.

"Come on…"

He slid her off the edge of the table and pushed her behind him.

"Cruz"

"Tran," Vince nodded.

Gabrielle racked her brain and the only Tran she'd ever heard a mention of was in reference to someone Dom didn't like; that's all she knew.

"Saw you and your girl out earlier"

"Aiight, so? We weren't anywhere near your place," Vince shrugged.

"I know…haven't seen Toretto since he's been paroled; how's he doin' these days?" the man asked casually.

"Just fine, but I think we both know you don't really care"

Gabe felt uneasy, even with all the "casual" talk, and wished Vince wouldn't have said that; of course, that was coming from her and she wasn't over 6 foot or over 200 pounds.

"True," the man didn't deny. "Gonna introduce me to your girl?" he asked, approaching,

"She ain't your business"

"Aw, come on, where's your manners? We've seen you with her a lot, so she can't just be some skank. What're your name, sweetie?" he questioned, moving around a little so he could see her.

She looked up for a moment at Vince, whose jaw was tight, but he didn't tell her not to.

"Gabrielle"

"Hammons, right? Yea, you're cousins with Isaacs"

Gabe opened her mouth in surprise but shut it again, having no words for him knowing this.

"We're not too happy Toretto's back out"

"Yea, you wouldn't be"

"For all I care, he could just rot in that cell of his. Our deal still stands; he better keep all your asses away if he knows what's good for him; you'll all regret it if you don't," Tran threatened, circling the couple. "We just don't want him to forget that."

"Pretty sure he remembers; you two have had it out enough for the message to be memorable," Vince assured him.

"Yea, I figure…but we thought giving you boys a reminder would be best."

Tran was behind them at that moment and grabbed Gabe's arm, yanking her away from Vince. Vince whipped around immediately, but someone else grabbed his shoulder and turned him, socking him in the face before he could even make a sound to tell-off Tran.

"Vince!"

Gabe made to break-away from Tran, although she couldn't exactly help if she did, but he kept a tight hold on her arm and circled the other arm tight around her waist.

"Don't fight it, girl," he snarled in her ear. "Let's watch your boy go down."

One thing to be said for this guy was that he had enough cronies; so many that it wasn't even fair. They had Vince on the ground in no time, but that didn't stop them.

"Stop it!" she shrieked, elbowing Tran and pushing at his hands frantically.

He grunted when her elbow hit his ribs sharply and he whipped her around, backhanding her across the face. Her head snapped to the side and she could feel it in her neck, pain radiating upon contact.

"He's the only one getting a beating tonight, but don't push me," he warned.

He flipped her back around and kept her close, holding her chin to make her watch. Vince was unrising, now, and more or less just rolling with the kicks and swinging fists.

"Please," she whispered, trying not to cry, but it was just a little late for that.

"You don't gotta beg, baby, just tell us what you want. Please what?" he teased, letting his lips brush her ear.

"Please stop"

He waited a moment or two and whistled to end the ruckus. A few more feet flew through the air but everyone slowly stopped, waiting around for what to do next.

"Comfy down there, Vincent?"

"Fuck you," Vince spat, groaning as he pushed himself up a little on an arm. "You've got no call comin' up here this way, Johnny."

Johnny Tran just looked around with a smug look and shoved Gabe towards someone else, who caught her loosely around the waist.

"No one's stopping me," he pointed out, squatting down over Vince, grabbing the hair at the back of his head to turn his head up. "Here on out, we're back to the good old 'you stay away, I stay away.' Only the next time it might not be you we're messing up," he warned, glancing over to Gabe.

"Lay another hand on her and you're a dead man," Vince threatened.

"Well she is awfully cute, isn't she?" Johnny grinned, stalking over to his friend, trailing a finger down the side of her face, much to her disgust. "What do you think, Lance?"

"Beautiful," he agreed, squeezing her a little.

"It'd be a shame to put a scar on such a pretty face," Johnny smirked. "Let's go home, boys."

Everyone made their way to their cars and backed out and pulled away as if this was completely normal. Johnny and Lance were last, Lance going over to start up the last remaining car.

"If you get bored with Cruz, you come find me," he told her, climbing in the passenger side of the black car; as soon as the door was shut, Lance took off, tires squealing.

Gabrielle released a breath of relief and quickly made her way to Vince, dropping to her knees next to him where he'd shoved himself into a sitting position.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he demanded before she could open her mouth, cupping her face in his hands to get a look.

"It's nothing," she shook her head, brushing his hands away. "Look at you, are you alright?" she asked feverishly.

"I'll be fine," he nodded slowly, breathing heavy. "We gotta get out of here."

She nodded and helped him to his feet, tensing under the weight he put on her until he steadied himself.

"You drive," he decided, shoving the keys into her hand.

She watched him circle around the car slowly and climb in, leaning back against the headrest. She started the car and pulled on her seatbelt, watching him get into the glove box out of the corner of her eye. What really got her attention was the handgun he pulled from its confines.

"Vince…"

"Tran has a knack for comin' back once you let your guard back down. Let's just go…Gabe, go!"

She nodded nervously and pulled out. As she wasn't driving a manual every day, the ride wasn't what she'd call smooth; it was jerky, which didn't make it easy on Vince.

"I'm sorry"

"Stop apologizing," he grumbled, head still back on the rest with his eyes closed and hand holding his side.

"Vince, you should probably go to the hospital"

"Don't worry about it," he breathed, sounding as if it hurt to talk too much and breathe too hard.

She kept driving and grabbed his cell phone from the console where he'd set it earlier, dialing Leon's number from memory.

_"Yo, V, thought you were on a date; why you callin'?" _Leon greeted amusedly.

"Leon, w--"

"_Gabe?! What's wrong?" _he demanded, processing her tone.

"We're coming home. We were hanging out at the beach and, um…Johnny Tran showed up and ---"

_"What?! Are you okay? I swear to God, if he touched a hair on your head, I'm gonna go find him right now!_" he began to rant.

"I'm fine, but Vince isn't; he had a bunch of guys with him"

"…_of course he did_…"

"So I'm driving us on the way home…I still kind of think he should go to a doctor…"

"I don't need a fuckin' doctor," Vince grumbled; she just ignored him.

"_You're good, G. Just get him back here and we'll see, alright? You okay_?"

"Yea…just shitty with a stick and freaked out…" she nodded, shifting while she held the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"_Alright I'll let you go then and we're ready for you guys, aiight_?"

"Uh-huh"

She hung up and took a deep breath, speeding up to get this over with.

"You're doin' good. You're fine," Vince assured her quietly, reaching over and pushing his hand into her hair soothingly.

Once they got to the house, Leon and Dom both leapt off the porch, followed by Jesse. Leon was all over her as soon as she opened the door, checking her over and patting her down for injuries.

"I'm fine, Leon," she promised, more distracted by Dom helping Vince up the stairs into the house.

"I'll get ice for your right side. It's red; he slap you?"

"Yea," she nodded, finally looking up at him when Vince was inside and out of sight.

"Alright…hey, it's okay; we got you now," Leon comforted her, wiping away the silent tears streaking her face, careful on her right cheek

He walked her inside and nudged her into an arm chair to go get her some ice. Meanwhile, Letty and Dom had Vince on the couch, giving him their own little examination and Letty was cleaning blood from his face with a wet washcloth.

"Ow, shit, Let"

"Don't be a baby…"

"A baby?!" Vince asked, indignant, already pissed off with the world.

"Both of you cool it," Dom instructed. "Shirt off."

Vince slowly, carefully peeled his shirt off and set it aside before spitting blood into the trash they'd brought out to the living room. Leon returned then with an icepack covered in a thin rag, which she pressed gently to her face.

"Ya know, Gabe might be right on this," Dom sighed, checking Vince's chest. "Something could be fractured or some shit…"

"It's just bruised, man. Let it go. If anything gets worse, I'll let you know. Promise," Vince muttered.

"Alright…here's the bottle of Tylenol; don't OD. And just --"

"Damn it, Letty, have you ever heard of the word gentle? Jesus," Vince complained.

"Fine, do it yourself," Letty scowled, dropping the cloth into his lap, planting her hands on her hips.

"Okay, Gabe, what happened?" Dom interrogated, turning away from the bickerers to scrutinize the younger girl.

"Dude, I'm right here; I can tell you"

"No, you go downstairs and get some rest; clean up first. Someone will bring you ice in a few," Dom shook his head, waving Vince away.

"Dom…"

"Do what's best for yourself and just go take it easy," Dom insisted.

"Whatever"

Vince grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and the rag and slowly stood.

"You need help on the stairs?"

"I'll make it"

"…need help changing?"

"I'm 24 fucking years old," Vince glowered, grimacing as he moved stiffly to the stairs.

"And you just got your ass kicked," Dom reminded him. "Don't overdo it."

Vince rolled his eyes and slowly braved the stairs, disappearing from sight.

"Jesse, make sure he don't break his neck," Dom whispered.

Jesse slunk near the stairs and oversaw things while everyone else turned back to Gabe.

"From the beginning then," Leon coaxed.

"Well we were near the beach after we hung around in town and we were just…hanging out…"

Letty snorted here and Gabe just pretended not to notice, as did Leon; Dom quieted her with a quick look.

"And all these cars pulled up. It was already kind of dark so we couldn't see over the lights for a second. And then everyone got out and Johnny Tran did all the talking. He said…that he heard you'd been out for a while and how he wished you weren't. Then he started talking about your guys' deal and how he was making sure you hadn't forgotten it; Vince told him nobody had but he said he wanted to send a message. He held me off to the side so I wasn't in the way and everyone else just…did _that_ to him; there was quite a few of them," she shrugged, trying not to think of the blood on his face as he'd laid there groaning.

"That's all he said?" Dom checked.

"Um…just that if you forgot your deal you'd regret it…and that next time it wouldn't be him they'd mess up," she remembered, thinking back.

"…meaning me or you?" Dom clarified.

"…me"

Leon twitched involuntarily next to her and Dom's eyes darkened as he nodded.

"…is he who you owe money to?" she asked, just trying to put things together.

Dom's eyebrows rose at this and Leon coughed spontaneously.

"No, this is something else; it's old," Dom denied, running his hands over his bald head. "Fuck. I'm sorry about this, Gabe.'

She nodded and he went downstairs for a while. The occupants of the living room remained quiet until he came back up and went straight upstairs. Letty followed after him and Leon helped Gabe up out of the chair.

"Let's chill downstairs. You can hang with me and Jess unless you're hitting the sack," Leon told her, ushering her along.

While Gabe was changing, her door creaked open and Vince was there as she finished pulling the shirt on.

"Hey, I just came over to check if you were okay," he explained, moving tenderly into the room.

"I'm fine," she assured him, staying still as he examined her puffy cheek, which was pink both from swelling and the cold of the icepack. "Are you?"

"I'm gonna be alright," he told her confidently, even though his lip was cracked, some dried blood was still under his nose and eyebrow, one eye and jaw were swelling, and he couldn't move comfortably.

"You didn't do a great job cleaning up," she informed him, tracing the bruising portion of his jaw.

"It's fine," he shrugged, pulling her hand away and kissing her palm before dropping it. "I'm calling it a night, though."

She nodded her understanding and kissed him carefully before letting him leave.

* * *

The next week passed quietly, nothing out of the ordinary happening. Vince returned to the garage after two days off, but hadn't been moving around like normal; he mostly just bitched too much with nothing to do. Mia had returned Sunday night, immediately startled by his bruised face; she'd been appalled by the story and that so much drama could happen all in one week.

Wasn't that the truth? But drama was far from over.

"Hey"

Gabe let herself into Vince's room, where he was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, TV playing any random show. It was now Sunday night and Gabe had been back to the house for only a couple hours; she'd spent the previous night -- skipping races -- at Katie's after their last softball game. The night had been spent saying their good-byes to Hayley because they wouldn't be seeing her again for a couple weeks until school started.

He nodded his acknowledgement of her and she joined him on the bed. He'd been quiet ever since the previous week's fiasco and, while understandable, Gabe was starting to get worried. And he wouldn't talk to her about it, either, no matter how much she pried about it.

"Are you feeling okay?"

He nodded.

"…are you tired?"

He shrugged and shook his head a little.

"…then you won't mind me trying to cheer you up?" she offered with a coy smile, kissing his neck.

She avoided the bruises that were fading, carefully working around them. She turned to straddle him, holding her torso centimeters from his, kissing him properly on the mouth. He kissed her back automatically and everything was fine…until it wasn't.

"Gabe…" he sighed, turning away from the kiss and pulling his hands back from up her shirt.

"What's wrong?"

"Noth…just, not tonight, okay?" he groaned, sitting them up and pushing her back so she wasn't directly on his hips.

Ouch.

"Umm…okay, what's wrong?" she frowned, feeling dejected and worried.

"Nothing…no, we need to talk," he changed his mind.

"Okay," she agreed readily. "About what?"

"The other night…"

"Which one?"

"….last night," he mumbled, looking away from her eyes.

Her brow knitted at this, confused; she hadn't been there last night.

"After the races everyone was back here and I, uh…there was this girl…"

"W-what?" she chocked, tears stinging her eyes because she had a sick feeling she knew where this was going…but it couldn't be that…

"…and I was pretty fucking wasted, so…yea."

"…say it."

"Gabe…"

"I won't believe it if you don't," she whispered, hoping this was a sick joke; she'd hate him for it, but it was better than this being a reality.

"…I fucked her."

He wasn't looking her in the eye but she could see his looked damp with tears.

"…no…" a desperate pleading filled this simple word; it was his last chance to take it back.

He did no such thing so she quickly removed herself from his lap and his room, clicking the door shut behind her.

* * *

**.REVIEW.**


	10. No Closure

**Sorry it took so long. **

**Enjoy.**

**Review.**

**

* * *

****No Closure**  
_I'm falling apart  
__I'm barely breathing  
__With a broken heart that's still beating  
__**-Broken by Lifehouse**_

Gabrielle stood just outside his room for a few moments before heading straight to her room.

"Gabe, come here a sec!" Jesse hollered when she passed his doorway.

"Umm…what, Jess?" she called back, wiping the tears from her cheek.

"Just come _here_!?" he insisted.

"…is Leon in there?" she checked, deciding that, yes, she did need to talk to someone; she'd prefer Katie, but Jesse was actually there.

"…nooo."

She backtracked to his room and slipped in, shutting the door immediately behind her, sliding down the wood to sit on the floor and leaning against it.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Jesse queried, turning his chair towards her, taken completely off guard.

Gabe opened her mouth but closed it quickly, hiding her face behind her hand.

"Uhh…look, if you don't talk, I dunno what to do. I don't do tears very well," Jesse told her, laying it out there.

"It's V-vince," she explained, wishing her breathing was so messed up from crying.

"Oookay, nice start. I don't do good with girly shit, either, though….just to warn you."

Gabe nodded and sniffed, trying to stem the flow of tears to no real purpose. She heard the next door open and they both froze; Jesse was expecting Vince to force himself in to get Gabe and figure this out -- he found the thought both startling and very relieving. Instead, they listened to Vince stomp up the stairs and, by the sounds of it, out of the house, peeling out of the driveway.

"Sooo…." Jesse nodded slowly, pushing himself out of his chair and over to her, pulling her up from the floor to help her sit on his bed, where he plopped down next to her. "Usually the beginning is the best place to start; what'd he do?"

"…he slept with some other girl."

"What!?"

Jesse actually jumped in his surprise; normally she would laugh at this but all she could manage was a sad half-smile.

"That's something you might wanna lead into, G," Jesse told her, hand on his chest. "Tell me the whole story so I can actually wrap my mind around it.

"Well he just said that las-last night he g-got drunk and there was this g-girl and they did…..what you do," she finished lamely, finding herself unable to say it, fresh tears pouring down her face.

They both just sat there in silence and Gabe just really wished he'd open his mouth and say something. Anything. She didn't care what, as long as it was something to focus on. All she could think about now was him and some girl…some slut from the races; some skank touching parts of him only she was to touch and him doing things to the skank that he was only supposed to do to her. Had some small part of her secretly feared this all along? Leon had, in the beginning, but she'd been so confident….how could she? She felt that she'd just _known_, but so much for that.

"Actually….no," Jesse shook his head.

"What?" she asked, wondering if he'd said more and she'd missed it.

"He's lying," Jesse told her in a matter-of-fact way, still shaking his head, staring at the wall in thought.

"….Jess, you're gonna have to elaborate," Gabe urged when he seemed un-inclined to go on.

"Oh, sorry. Well, first of all, Vince hardly drank last night. I was bitching about Katie not being around and I thought he'd join-in cuz you were gone, but he didn't say much. Didn't really talk or drink for an hour or somethin' and then stalked off here to the basement. I came down here not that long after -- harder to enjoy the party when you have a girl and she ain't there -- and his door was open and he was dinking around on his guitar. I left my door open all night and no chasers came down…"

"That doesn't mean he d-didn't…" she pointed, breath still gasping.

"Drunk sex is easy to hear…and so is basically any sex with a chaser," Jesse smirked.

"…why would he say something like that if it wasn't true?" Gabe sniffed.

"….yea, I don't know that one," Jesse shrugged, at a loss.

Gabe sighed and flopped back against his bed, contemplating the ceiling. Jesse did the same, hands together on his stomach, feigning great interested in the dull color, and they laid like this for quite some time.

"I don't know what to think…"

"Me either," he informed her, "except that you're beauuuuuutiful," he drawled, rolling over to blow a quick breath into her ear.

She smiled and he grinned in triumph.

"So I get it I'm keeping this to myself…?"

"Yea, until I figure all this out…_don't_ tell Leon," she emphasized.

"No worries. The last thing I want is a murder in our basement. Just let me know how it goes, alright?"

"For sure"

"Movie?"

She nodded and let him pick one, laying in his bed with him to watch.

"Yo, that ain't your girlfriend," Leon observed when he walked in on Gabe asleep next to Jesse in his bed.

"Really? It was probably a mistake to have sex with her then, huh?" Jesse smirked.

"…I don't even have to kill you; V will do it for me," Leon laughed, getting on the computer Jesse left open.

As it was not his place, Jesse let Leon stay in this delusion and also let Leon be the one to scoop Gabe up later and carry her to her room.

"Dude, did V and Dom get in a fight again?" Leon asked while they played video games in the room once Gabe was removed.

"Nah, why?"

"Cuz when I was out I passed _Joe's Bar_ and Vince's car was parked; I only ever know him to go there when he's pissed," Leon explained; luckily his eyes were on the TV so he didn't see the moment of panic on Jesse's face.

"Dunno. Didn't hear anything," Jesse shrugged, feeling uncomfortable lying to his friend; on the other hand, it was lying and betraying Gabe _not_ to lie to him.

Luckily Leon let it drop and didn't mention it again to anyone.

TFATF

Gabe stood nervously in her room the next day. She'd done homework after her classes and not shown face anywhere, as to not let people notice an awkwardness between her and Vince; how could there not be one? Vince was showered and should be dressed by now; she'd left her door open so she knew everyone was home and Leon had beaten Vince to the first shower earlier. Now, though, Jesse was in and Leon was upstairs…it was a perfect time to get to the bottom of what Jesse had told her. She shouldn't be afraid of Vince…she shouldn't, but she was.

With deep breaths, she approached Vince's room and nudged the unlatched door open just enough to slip inside. He turned and registered surprise to see her before an impassive mask replaced it. He looked calm. She felt like throwing up.

"… … hi?" he ventured when she didn't say anything.

"So Jesse said you didn't drink much Saturday night, and he said he was down here when you were and there weren't any girls," she informed him coolly, finding an odd comfort in the fact that he felt awkward, too.

She didn't miss the panicked look that betrayed his face, even if it was rather brief.

"He's confused"

"Jesse either knows things or he doesn't; you know that"

"Well what do you want me to say? The genius got it wrong this time," he told her firmly.

"You could just tell me the truth," she suggested, watching him closely.

"What; you want details?" he challenged.

"No," she answered quickly, though she was pretty sure something about his story just wasn't right. "Something just doesn't make sense…"

"You're a smart girl, I don't think I have to spell this out for you. Even mad scientists make mistakes."

"Look, he remembers, okay? You were quiet, you wouldn't pick up conversation with him, you _hardly_ drank, and both of your doors were open down here and he never saw a girl."

"Wishful thinking, Gabe. He doesn't wanna believe it and neither do you."

"Vince…"

"What do you want me to say?" he scowled.

"The truth. You don't have to lie. Did…I do something? Did…you meet someone else? Do you not love me anymore? Do you just not want to be tied down? I just want to know what's going on; it's called closure and I need it," she pleaded, praying the hot tears stinging the backs of her eyes would stay away at least a little longer.

"I already told you, so I don't know what else you want from me," he told her, once again not meeting her eye.

"Yea, well….if you do want to talk about the truth, you know where to find me," she told him softly, shaking her head, turning to pull the door open further for her exit.

"Not gonna happen," he told her, grabbing the edge of the door before she could budge it, voice right behind her. "You deserve something else…something better than what I've done -- what I am."

She opened her mouth but, before words could escape, he yanked the door the rest of the way open and nudged her out with a hand on the small of her back, slamming the door behind her. She jumped but swallowed any kind of gasp before it made it's way out. She made her way to her room, not missing the fact that the shower was off; not only this, but it had been for several minutes now and Jesse had yet to exit.

The bathroom door opening and feet on carpet were the only sounds in the basement.

Vince hadn't moved, hand still on the door he'd slammed.

Gabe was standing in the middle of her room as she tried to compose herself long enough to get to her car and over to Katie's.

Jesse was dressing, wishing he had someone to collaborate with for a solution.

Gabe left the basement, deciding all she had to do was suck it up long enough to get through the house without being stopped; the mission was a success.

Jesse reopened his door and saw the still-closed door that belonged to one of his best friends.

"Vince, you're an asshole!" he called over.

Vince punched the door and didn't leave his room the rest of the night.

TFATF

Gabe had spent most of the night over at Katie's house, curled up on the couch with her best friend. She told her the whole story and let her know Jesse knew it, too; she was sure Jesse was bursting to say something to somebody and now he'd have someone to talk to. In the hours she'd spent over there, Katie had reminded her the invitation to live with her and Hayley was still workable, but Gabe still had to think about it. Moving would mean seeing a whole lot less of everyone, and she didn't want to readily give that up. However, it would also mean time away from Vince and she was having trouble deciding if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She'd been thinking about it for a little over a week now. It was late and she was in bed, tears falling from her eyes; it seemed she'd been crying a lot lately. She twirled the ring Vince had given her around her finger; she'd only stopped wearing it the previous morning. By now everyone had figured out that her and Vince weren't okay; Leon had pestered her long and hard about it but dropped the topic at her insistence, though he'd brought it up again only to call her out about the ring. She stopped wearing it after that. Tonight, though, it was there…she couldn't help it.

Her door creaked as it opened further, and in her mind she envisioned Vince sneak in, the way he had so many times before. But, deep down, she knew it wouldn't be, so she turned to look over her shoulder to see Leon sneaking in instead.

"Hi," she sighed, laying back down.

"Hey babygirl," he whispered, crawling on the bed behind her. "You should be sleepin'."

"I know"

"Gotta work tomorrow"

"I know"

"…you can talk to me."

"Will you get mad?" she questioned quietly.

"Are you gonna give me a reason to?"

"Not on purpose," she denied, rolling onto her stomach and turning her head towards him; he was laying on his back but looking at her.

"Then, yea, talk away"

"I think I'm going to live with Katie, Hayley, and Nicole this year…" she sighed, sure she'd just dropped a bomb on Leon Land.

"Seriously?" he asked, worry lacing his worse; she could tell he was frowning, even in the dimness.

"Yea…"

"Gabe, is this just because of Vince? Because I don't want you to bail just cuz of him; he's a stubborn fucker, but he always comes around eventually," Leon reasoned.

Yes, it had been much to her surprise that Leon was actually supportive of them getting back together, even though he swore to beat the shit out of Vince if he ever got bad details; it was just to beat sense into him, allegedly.

"It's not just that…I was thinking about it, anyway. I guess the whole situation just makes it easier," she admitted.

"I don't want you to go, especially if it's just to run away from your problems"

"It's not running away….really. How else am I supposed to get over it and try to move on? I'm broken up with a guy that I loved….love, and I still live in the same house; he's literally feet away. I seem him more than once, every single day. It would be hard enough to work near him and have the same friends, but I live with him; there's no distancing myself from that. How do I get over him when he's still everywhere?" she asked, tears flowing again as she finally voiced some of her biggest worries as of late.

"….I don't know," Leon admitted, feeling defeated. "We can kick Vince out?"

"No," she shook her head, flashing a grin that didn't last. "And this is exactly what you were afraid of; we're broken up and you feel like you have to choose between loving me and being his best friend."

"No, I really don't feel in the middle of it. Unfortunately, I think it's a good thing you didn't tell me the whole situation," Leon sighed heavily, turning on his side to face her.

She nodded and wiped at her eyes; she'd hoped that would be the right thing.

"I still don't want you to go, Gabe"

"I know…and I don't really want to leave everybody because I love everyone….I just think it's best. I'll still work at the store if Dom's cool with it and I'll come over and visit you guys. Besides, this way you get your room back."

"I don't really care about that"

"Just pretend to so you can be happier about it"

"But I'm not happy about it, and I'm not going to be. It would be different if you were leaving and it's what you really wanted, but it's not; it's just your last resort," he explained scornfully.

"I'll never know if it's what I really wanted anyway because now there's all these other things…"

"This _one_ other thing," Leon corrected spitefully.

"It'd be nice if you were supportive," she suggested.

"….I'll carry your boxes for you and help you move, since _that's_ what you mean," Leon agreed.

"Aw, you're so sweet"

"Tell me something I don't know…" he laughed quietly. "There's always a place here for you, though," he promised, sobering up. "And me and Jess don't mind rooming together; it's like old times."

She nodded and they just laid there for a little bit together before Leon stretched to kiss her forehead, leaving quietly.

The next day, Leon was still processing all of this as he worked in the garage. His work wasn't major and could really be classified as "busy work" so he took a stroll over to Vince, who was working on an Eclipse, and pulled a stool up next to his friend.

"Need a hand?" he offered.

"Nah, I think I got it now; just about finished. Done over there?"

"Almost…..she's moving out"

Vince looked up with a confused look, spying the Civic Leon had been working on. It was going nowhere so he looked back to Leon, and a dark look settled on his face when he worked out who "she" was.

"And?"

"And she's moving out," Leon shrugged.

"Yea, I knew she'd been thinking about it," Vince nodded, hinting to Leon that this couldn't be blamed completely on him.

"Uh-huh…"

He let Vince get back to work but didn't vacate the area, which irked Vince somehow. He didn't even know why Leon made him nervous; he was confident he could take him. Maybe it was because he knew he deserved any kind of beating Leon managed to lay on him…  
"You can talk to me, dawg"

"…about your little cousin? Yea, I think I'll pass," Vince snorted.

"Well talk to Jesse, he actually knows the details. Figure it out with someone, man…"

Vince stilled his hands, slacking his grip on the tools. He hadn't even talked to Dom about it, though the other man had asked. It was true, though, that Jesse knew….stupid, loud-mouthed kid had ruined his plans. Vince eyed him working on an engine but found he couldn't _actually_ be mad at Jesse for telling the truth.

"I mean…what? You two still love each other; it's obvious, if you didn't know --- if I can tell, fucking everybody can. What happened?"

"Drop it, Leon"

"What? Did you cheat on her? Cuz I told you from day one that's the only thing I can't forgive you for, besides physically hurting her…and if you did that I'll kill you right here," Leon threatened in afterthought.

"I didn't lay a hand on her," Vince assured him quickly, glaring at him for the mere insinuation. "And I didn't cheat on her either," he confessed almost as quickly; if he was going to admit that truth to anyone, it might as well be Leon, especially since he was clearly out of the loop.

"Then what?"

Vince refused to answer, getting back to work. Leon lingered around for a little bit but went back to work when he couldn't justify putting it off any longer to just sit and stare at another guy work.

Stubborn fucker was as dead-on description.

TFATF

A couple weeks later and Gabe was finished with her summer classes, both passed nicely. Everyone knew she was moving out, now. Letty had blamed Vince right off the bat, but no one else had actually spoken up to voice this suspicion. Of course Letty would if anyone would. Nobody was particularly ecstatic about it, but they mercifully didn't try to talk her out of it. Jesse knew the fine details, Leon had promised to be supportive, Letty and Mia probably understood she couldn't keep living around Vince 24/7 right now, and Dom didn't argue because nobody else did. Then there was Vince and he didn't complain because, well, they still didn't talk except a "thank you" or "oops, sorry" or "excuse me" or something else just as trivial; they didn't even meet each others eyes…still. Of course, Gabe was making herself scarce, what with finalizing the moving, checking the place out, working, spending a little time with her parents, and just finding random shit to do.

It was move-out and move-in day all in one now. Boxes were going in her and Leon's cars, and she was filling a last box with knick-knack things she'd needed to use up until that morning. Something dark in the doorway caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she turned to see Vince leaning there. Her breath caught for a moment but it returned just as quickly; they hadn't been this alone in a long time.

He didn't say anything, so neither did she. They were just standing there, staring, and tears stung her eyes quickly as soon as their gazes finally met. Yes, it was clearly a good thing she was getting out of there; she so needed to collect herself.

"Yo, V, if you're gonna block my way into the room, fuckin' grab that box for her," Leon admonished, bustling past and mumbling something about not remembering where his sunglasses were.

Vince levied himself off the door frame and picked up the box she'd shut, silently taking it upstairs to find a place for it. This left Gabe just standing there for a moment, trying to decipher the look he'd had on his face.

Was it really her concern anymore?

"Hey, you okay?" Leon asked, poking his sunglass clad face in the room.

"Yea," she nodded slowly, starting to exit the room.

"Good deal…you ready for this?"

"Yea…yea, I think so"

* * *

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	11. Not the Right Guy

**Enjoy and Review!**

* * *

**Not the Right Guy  
**_I can't waste time so give it a moment  
__I realize nothing's broken  
_…_You're still a part of everything I do  
__You're on my heart just like a tattoo  
__I'll always have you  
__**-Tattoo by Jordan Sparks**_

Gabrielle had decided she made the right choice; she really liked living with the other girls. She missed The Fort a lot, naturally, but couldn't deny she enjoyed the lessening of the tension in her day-to-day life; she did miss almost everything else about the house.

She missed the guys acting as if a meal she cooked for them was gold, lurking around in the kitchen to smell and then eating as much of it as they could. She somehow even missed them trying to trick her into doing their laundry, throwing some of their clothes into her hamper like she wouldn't know she didn't wear boxers, jeans too tall for her, or their large shirts. She missed having borderline inappropriate talks with Letty, or just plain girly talks with Mia, locked in one of their rooms when all the testosterone got to be too much. And she really did miss Vince. Just seeing him walk by, even. She missed his arms, the way they wrapped around her or the way the muscles in his arms rippled perfectly as he worked. She missed his whole body, really…though perhaps his hands, most of all. Hands that could do a number of things to her; turn her own, making her writhe, or comfort and reassure her, or just let her know he was right there. His eyes, too, were amazing…an outward hint that there was more to him than brawn; they could show a lot, even if he fought against it. And she just missed being around him and knowing she was safe, that he'd protect her….

"You're doing it again"

Gabe looked up quickly from the desk in her room and smiled guiltily at Katie in the doorway, who really looked kind of amused, contrary to her chastising tone.

It was true, though; she was doing it. She stopped ever wearing the ring Vince had given her and put it on the chain with the heart necklace he'd also given her. She'd been living with the girls for two weeks now and Katie, of course, had immediately figured out the necklace was in the top drawer of her desk. She couldn't help it that she looked at it from time to time.

"Shut up," she simply muttered, sliding the drawer closed.

"You ready to go?"

Gabe groaned and nodded, slipping into her sandals to follow Katie from the room and then the apartment altogether. Katie drove, which was probably for the best since Gabe still wasn't completely convinced this was what she wanted to do. They were going to the Fort for dinner and it made her nervous, being forced back into casual socializing with him that she couldn't avoid. In the store she usually brought along homework she could do whenever the guys came around for lunch, and when she had been stopping by the house, she'd just hang out with Leon and Jesse or Mia and it was easy to engross herself and not pay heed to anyone passing by.

She'd been alone -- mostly alone -- with Vince and forced to talk to him exactly once thus far. It had been awkward, but maybe it wasn't solely her fault…there had also been a drunk Leon to try and ignore. It had been the previous weekend when her and Leon went out together and went clubbing:

_"Leon, you did this on purpose, didn't you!?" she accused, glaring at her cousin who was working very hard to walk straight._

_"No, that'd be stupid," Leon sniggered, frowning when he patted around his pockets. "My keys!" _

_"I have them, moron; you can't drive," Gabe groaned._

_"Oh yea…baaaad idea," he nodded. "So lets go!"_

_Gabe rolled her eyes and kept an eye on him while he wandered the parking lot a little and she picked up her phone, stealing herself for this one. She couldn't drive Leon's car; she didn't know how and had never had much interest learning to shift opposite…she disliked stick enough as it was. Jesse, she was sure, would love to drive a Skyline but was too impatient to get used to the shifting. So the only person she'd ever seen Leon trust enough to really drive his car was Vince, who did it just fine, if not as natural as Leon._

_And she'd told Leon _not_ to drink much just for this reason, but he didn't listen. She should've insisted they take her car. Whatever._

_"Gabe?" a gravely voice answered slowly._

_"Hi, Vince…sorry if I woke you up. It's just, um…"_

_"You and Le in trouble?"_

_"No, but he drank too much to drive us home and I can't drive his car…"_

_"And he'd probably kill you if you left it there…got it. Um…you're not far; I'll call a cab and drive you both back…"_

_"Okay, thanks, and I'm sorry"_

_"Don't be"_

_She got Leon and convinced him to stay in one place with her and they waited about 20-25 minutes before he was there._

_"Yo, V, you here to party?" Leon asked cheerfully._

_"No, dip-shit, it's the middle of the night," Vince rolled his eyes, taking the keys. _

_Gabe got Leon into the back seat and slid in, closing the door quietly._

_"Alright, V…my car's different than yours. Don't forget the shit's over here, 'kay?"_

_"You've gotta be kidding me," Vince grumbled, pulling out and speeding away. _

_"And be very careful with by baby…I'm kind of in love with my car. I wish I could marry it, except I couldn't have sex with it and that'd be kind of stupid. Dude, turn it up!" Leon groaned, leaned up between the seats , fiddling with the radio._

_"Leon, sit back," Gabe instructed, slapping at his hand. _

_"Hey, Vince? You shift with this right here," Leon told him, tapping it._

_"No shit; don't touch it," Vince snapped, pushing him away._

_"It's my fucking car. Just cuz you're a party pooper, don't yell at me, bro. Every partyyyy needs a pooper," he began to sing. "That's why we invited youuuuu…"_

_"You're paying me back for the cab ride, man," Vince shook his head, rolling his eyes. _

_Gabe just watched out her window, sure she would've found Leon funny if it were anyone else in the car with her; Jesse would've played along and Dom probably would've laughed it off. Dom!…no, she'd never seen him drive it, nor had Letty ever graced the driver's seat in Gabe's presence. She'd done the right thing. _

_"You comin' back with us or to school?" Vince asked, surprising her by directing his talk to her._

_"Well Leon picked me up from school, but I can sleep in Jesse's extra bed if you don't want to go out there."_

_"Nah, I'm up now and it's not my gas," he shrugged, directing the car the right way._

_"Aw, G-Babe, where you goin'?" Leon had complained when she got out, letting him out and into the front seat._

_"To bed, but I'm sure I'll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks Vince"_

_Leon pouted but she left anyway, and she wasn't even changed when her phone rang, flashing LEON._

_"Yea?" she answered skeptically._

_"Why'd you leave? V's a grouchy mother fucker and ---"_

_"Give me that," she'd heard Vince demanded._

_"Hey!---"_

_And then the call ended abruptly and she just stared at her phone for a little while before setting it down and getting to bed_. _Leon, as expected, had called the next day to apologize for not being able to drive, but he seemed amused with himself just a little._

"What're you thinking about?" Katie asked, turning down the music while she cruised the freeway.

"Leon," she fibbed quickly, although it wasn't a complete lie.

"Whatever," Katie outright laughed.

Gabe saw no reason in defending herself, so she did no such thing, bopping to the beat of the music as her friend drove with a funky little grin.

"I look okay, right?" Katie asked when she parked up front.

"Yea…but, Katie, Jesse's already with you, so I'm pretty sure you don't have to look perfect," Gabe assured her.

"Well, my dear Gabrielle, you just don't remember what it's like to want to look good for your man," Katie teased.

"Ouch"

Gabe chuckled, but it really did hurt a little, even though she knew it was meant light-heartedly.

"Or _do_ you want to impress him?" Katie asked, looking at Gabe's white, breezy halter top and jean shorts.

"No. It's hot out," Gabe shrugged.

"Well you look hot anyway"

"Aw"

"Hey girls!" Letty cat-called on their way up the driveway.

Jesse whistled and gave Katie a bit hug and kiss. Gabe had no one to kiss, so she took a seat at the table with everyone, excluding Leon and Vince.

"Where are the other two?"

"They ran to the store for beer, chips, ketchup and mustard and shit. We didn't realize we were out until Dom decided to grill up burgers; we don't think of that crap. That's why we need you here, so come back; who cares if V is a jerk," Letty complained rapidly.

"No! We love it too much together," Katie protested.

"Aw, you didn't love it here with us?" Mia pretended to pout.

"Of course I did"

"I loved it, too…I miss your cooking, you doin the laundry sometimes, your patience, and of course your beautiful face…" Jesse began to list.

"Oh, there's the little shit-head now," Letty grumbled, watching Vince's car whip into the end of the driveway.

Leon and him both got out, carrying a couple bags each. Gabe smiled at Leon and she tried not to let her face fall completely at Vince. He spotted her and stopped. His brow was furrowed, jaw offset, and he studied her a moment before he handed his bags over to Leon and went back to his car.

"V, come on, dawg," Leon groaned, grabbing the other man's arm.

Vince took his arm back without a word and backed out and took off.

Gabe stared down at the table, picking at the blue table cloth.

"Hey, shake it off," Letty murmured, nudging Gabe lightly.

"Yea, he made his choice; we want you here," Dom nodded from the grill.

She understood this but didn't like it and was noticeably quieter, even as they ate and everyone seemed to have something to say.

"Oh, Gabe, I've been waiting to tell you…I have a date," Leon announced dramatically.

"Aw, with who?"

"Alicia Metts. She's Emily's step sister, that chick from your team. I met her at one of the games and then I saw her a few days ago and we talked…and set up a date for this weekend," he told her proudly, shoveling food.

"Well I hope you don't eat like that when you take her out," Gabe laughed. "But I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for myself. She's a cool girl; and she's hot," he congratulated himself.

"Not that we're shallow here or anything," Letty muttered.

"What? She's cool and nice, of course it's a plus she's hot," Leon defended himself.

"Yea, yea, where are you taking her?"

Gabe diverted the conversation and found out all about the night he had planned for them. After dinner they kicked back for a movie and actually had a good time.

"Can I come chill with you soon?" Leon asked, stretching and rearranging himself on the couch so his arm was over Gabe.

"Course"

"Good"

A car pulled up to the house, then, and Leon squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. A minute or two passed and Vince was trudging by to the stairs.

"V, we just put a movie in," Dom informed him in a way that told him he should join.

"What movie?"

"_Gone in Sixty Seconds_, now get your ass in here"

He lingered around in the doorway for a little bit, watching from the side, and went to grab a beer before actually sitting down. He dropped to the floor and leaned against the end of the couch Jesse and Katie were sitting at.

Gabe was reminiscing back to the days he'd either sit in front of her and lean against her legs, otherwise be the one next to her on the couch.

Vince was mentally picturing himself the one next to Gabrielle with his arm around her; the only reason he wasn't jealous was because it was Leon.

Leon rubbed Gabe's shoulder as if he could read her mind, offering her his beer. She declined, though she could probably do with a buzz about now. She rested her head on his shoulder staring to wish, just a little bit, she was back at the apartment. She wanted to stare at Vince; hell, she wanted to crawl right into his lap. But, no, she couldn't…it was all his fault, anyway. Frowning, she forced herself to focus on the screen.

Vince wished he's sat somewhere with an inconspicuous view of Gabe. Her top was hot, in a way that made him want to rip it off of her. Her hair was full and wavy and he wanted to bury his hands in it, smell it. He should've ignored Dom and gone to his room, that's what he should've done. The only problem with that was he didn't want her to feel like he hated her and wanted nothing to do with her; he felt a little bad about completely bailing as soon as he saw her. He knew how it looked, but he just didn't want to ruin her evening by doing something stupid; how would he keep his eyes off if he had to sit across from her at the table? This would all be a little easier if he knew he got to be touching her and holding her once they went to bed, but it wasn't going to happen.

What was he thinking? This was for the best. It was how it had to be. It didn't matter that it was hard for him because it's what was right. He nodded to himself and immediately hoped no one had noticed.

"Hey, are you coming to races this weekend?" Leon asked, walking the girls out to Katie's car with Jesse later.

"Um…I dunno. Probably not," Gabe shook her head.

"Come on, it's been forever. Edwin was asking about you the other night and I realized just how long it's been," Leon complained. "What if I come pick you up and we show up separate," he suggested, getting that she probably didn't want to show up with Vince but not _with_ Vince.

"Will Dom mind?"

"Don't care. I'll tell him what's up," Leon dismissed.

"Well…okay," she agreed reluctantly.

"Awesome. Friday, I'm getting you at 9:00"

TFATF

"You know, Jesse tells me Vince still isn't going after chasers," Katie commented casually, curling her black hair in Gabe's room while she straightened her own auburn tresses.

"I don't know why you're telling me this," Gabe shrugged.

"Shut up," Katie snapped. "Sometimes I just want to slap you! You and Vince are _so_ still meant to be. You were trying not to stare at him last night, and no one stares straight at a TV for the whole movie the way he did. Plus, you keep this thing," Katie reminded her, yanking open the drawer and pulling out the necklace, ring attached.

"Stop it, Katie. This is hard, okay? You know the whole story; there's nothing I can do about it. I'm trying here, alright. I know this can't be the end of the world, but I've never been in love like this before. I thought I loved Logan, but it's nothing like it was with Vince because I still love him even after this, and I don't know how to make it stop. "

"So you'd get back with him?"

"…yea. We'd have things to talk about, but I would. It's like…deep down, I still feel like we're still going to be together, but at the same time I feel like I'm stupid for thinking that and I have to let go. I want to move on, but I feel like I can't. While we were together, sometimes I'd think about how I could _never_ see myself with anyone else or want to…give myself to anyone else, and I still feel that way."

"It's gonna go away…or you'll get back together," she added.

"Katie I don't want to talk about this right now. I might cry and I'm about to put makeup on"

Katie left a little while later to meet Jess and Leon picked Gabe up almost an hour after that.

"You okay? You look upset"

"I'm fine"

"Well you look cute"

"Thank you," she smiled appreciatively.

She was wearing a yellow tank top that was tight around her top and loose below her breasts, fitted over a black bra, and some white shorts. Her hair was satisfactorily straight, some pieces from the front pinned back to the sides, free of her face.

"You sure you're fine?"

"Yea, it's just that Katie had to bring up Vince and now I'm still thinking about it," she sighed, slouching against the seat.

"Gabe, Gabe, Gabe…I dunno what to do for you," Leon groaned.

"You don't have to _do_ anything. I'm just all confused but I'll figure something out sometime"

"You'll be okay, and I'm here if you need anything. But I get that this is a "girl talk" thing, so I won't try and force something out of you."

"Thanks, Le"

"I got your back, babygirl"

Gabe knew this so she was confident in this fact; at least she knew _something_.

"I'm racin' tonight," Leon smiled happily, bouncing in his seat.

"Really? That's great"

"Yea so it was hard tellin' Dom I wasn't ridin' in with them, but whatever," he shrugged, cruising through the random people to pull into a spot.

"So, you're making your way through the whole Toretto team now?"

The girls turned in surprise when some barely dressed girls made their way over to them, looking Gabe up and down disdainfully.

"Are you talking to me?" Gabe clarified, surprised and more than a little disgusted.

"Duh"

"Leon's my _cousin_"

"So, if you're dirty enough and he's drunk enough, he'll go for something like you; you tricked V into it for long enough," some blonde.

"Don't talk about the guys like you know them," Letty spoke up, stepping in to take over. "So why don't you sluts take you dirty asses outta here. I'm afraid we'll get a disease just standing near you," she snarled.

"Must be nice getting all the perks of Toretto. Get sex from the boys and protection from the she-man," the same blonde spat bravely.

Gabe slipped between Letty and the stranger; she didn't want a scene.

"Say it again, you fucking bitch. Say it again and I don't care if Gabe's in my way," Letty growled, getting in the girls face over Gabe's shoulder.

"She-Man," the girl drawled out slowly; she even tweaked Letty's nose for the cherry-on-top.

"That's _it_!"

Letty shoved Gabe out of the way to launch at the girl, but she never got to hit her because Dom grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. Gabe didn't fall down, either, because she stumbled into a hard chest and rough hands grabbed shoulders, pulling her back up straight. She looked up to see Vince over her shoulder and they just stared at each other for a few moments. Her heart fluttered and her stomach tightened when she realized his hands were on her and a shiver racked her spine just before he let go.

"What the hell?" Dom demanded.

Letty glared at him and ripped herself from her grasp, looking around to see the skanks had hightailed it out of there.

"That stupid bitch came at Gabe first and was all --"

"Letty!" Gabe hissed, giving the girl a hopeful look.

"It's nothing, Dom," Letty switched.

She grabbed Gabe's hand and started dragging her away down the street.

"Letty…" Dom started, annoyed.

"We're gonna watch the race. What?" Letty demanded, turning back to throw her hands up at Dom in pure frustration as she continued to walk. "Dumb bitch," she immediately spat as the girls strode away. "We can still find her and ---"

"Let, it's fine," Gabe shook her head.

"No it's not. I hate when these hoes act like that; who do they think they're kidding? Of all people, _we_ know they're not in with the team. Duh," Letty fumed, sitting on the hood of Mia's car with Katie and Mia. "So Vince stopped you from falling on your ass," she pointed out, changing the subject.

"And they say chivalry is dead," Gabe commented sarcastically.

"Whatever. Contact is contact…"

"Mmmhmm," Gabe agreed blandly, watching Vince and Dom join some other guys and trying not to watch his ass.

"Do you miss the sex?" Letty asked sympathetically.

"….yea," Gabe admitted; of course Letty would ask that. "But it's more than that."

"Yea, yea…but how long has it been, though? Seriously," Letty goaded with a wicked grin.

"Like a month…well…five weeks," Gabe shrugged, playing with her long hair.

"Ah, sucks," Letty laughed. "Get a vibrator."

"Oh, shut up"

"No, I'm serious. I'll go with you, I know some good ones…don't look at me like that; what do you think I did for 2 years while Dom was gone?" she chuckled.

"Once again, there's an over share," Gabe sighed.

Leon raced and won and there was still no sign of cops, so everyone gathered-up to plan another race. Vince raced the second time and won, congratulated by some sluts. Gabe became completely disinterested after this, so she wandered, checking out cars. Despite the company she kept, she didn't really care about cars and engines, but she did like paint jobs, so that's all she was really looking at as she browsed.

"Hey Gabe; didn't think I'd see you here"

She had hardly parted from Letty when someone said her name. Turning, she found a tall guy with a short cut was leaning up against his car, pushing off of it to approach when she acknowledged the guess.

"Yea," she nodded slowly, recognition taking a while to sink in. "Mason, hey…"

"Well I'll try not to take it to heart that you didn't remember right away…" he sighed in a would-be annoyed way.

"Sorry. I didn't know you came to races," she defended herself.

"Don't really race too big yet…not when Toretto and his guys are in; saw you hanging out with his girl," he mused, nodding towards the car area she'd left.

"Yea, I lived with them until this semester. Leon's my cousin, in the yellow Skyline'

"No shit? I never knew you hung with royalty, girl. I guess I'll have to watch myself around you, huh?" he joked.

"Maybe a little," she nodded, smiling, leaning against his car with him once they'd made their way back over to it.

Letty was watching her, nudging Katie and smiling amusedly. Gabe rolled her eyes and turned back to Mason, who was telling her about the guys he usually came with, one of whom had classes with her, too. They were having a good time until everyone was yelling for cops before the next race.

Gabe jumped off the car and could see Leon craning his neck, pushing people to try and get to her.

"Leon!"

He looked up again when she screamed and nodded when she pointed to Mason's car before sprinting back to his own. Mason took of when she slid into his car and she was a little more nervous with him than she'd ever been with Leon, Vince, or Letty. She wasn't sure what he could do so her heart was pounding dangerously, but they got out without a problem and he hit the freeway.

"So you wanna hang out or something?" Mason asked, now driving normally.

"Well…Leon will flip out if I don't go back and let him see for himself that I'm okay, but…Dom probably won't mind if you come to the party. I mean, you did help me out," Gabe offered with a shrug, sure it was fine.

"Aiight. Sounds like a good time"

She directed them to the house and led the way inside, where Leon pounced from the kitchen.

"Thank God; there ain't no way I wanna explain to Claire and Scott why your ass wound up in jail. Thanks for draggin' her home, bro," Leon grinned, quickly introducing himself and offering Mason a beer.

"That went well," he mused, going to the living room with her.

"Who's your friend?" Letty asked innocently, appearing at Gabe's side almost immediately where the pair was leaning against a wall.

"Mason, this is Letty. Letty, this is Mason; I've have class with him at school"

"Oh…cute friend," she smirked before flouncing away back to Dom.

"You chill with friendly people," Mason chuckled.

"Well, as long as you're on her good side," Gabe warned teasingly.

They hung around the rest of the night, consorting with Katie and Jesse, and whatnot. They danced a little and then, in the wide doorway between the living room and kitchen, he kissed her.

"Yo"

Vince leaned over and tapped Leon's arm, pointing to Mason and Gabe, whose faces were close to touching; Gabe was saying something now, but it was obvious what they'd done…or might do again.

Leon looked and held-in his grin.

"So? Go do something about it if you don't like it"

Vince scowled resentfully. All Leon did was glance at the skank standing between Vince's legs, clearly intent on getting into his lap.

"Mason…umm…"

"Was it that bad?" he joked, lips almost brushing hers as he spoke.

"No, it was nice," she blushed.

He grinned and kissed her again, a forearm propped against the wall next to her head and his other hand cupping her cheek as he slowly worked his way into her mouth. It took her a few moments for a full mental process. Slowly, she grabbed his large hand in her much smaller one and pulled it down, tilting her head away as well.

"…I can't."

"Oh, but you can…and very well, too."

She smiled but looked away.

"Look, Leon's basically my big brother and my ex-boyfriend is here…"

"But he _is _an **ex** right?"

"Yea, but it's complicated…really complicated. And…I'm not over it," she explained sheepishly.

"That's _definitely_ too bad, but I know how that goes.…"

Vince "happened" to walk by then, bumping into Mason's shoulder on his way to grab a beer, and it was a little too hard to be accidental.

"Let me guess…_that's_ the ex?" he asked, stretching to try and get a good look at the man who'd disappeared across the room.

"Yea," she nodded, exhaling a frustrated breath.

"Well, his loss…promise to let me know when you're ready to move on?"

"Yea, for sure," she nodded, laughing a little.

"Good," he nodded with a short sigh. "I think I'm gonna get going, then; I'll meet up with some of the boys. I'll see you in class, right?"

"Yup"

She walked him to the door and grabbed a soda, going back to find something else to do. What she found, right away, was Vince paying close attention to a skinny blonde in a short, grossly low mini skirt and a tube top that didn't cover much more than the essentials. Her shoulders slumped and she watched, though she very much wanted to look away, his hand wrap around her knee to the back of her leg and hesitantly move up an inch or two. It was like looking at a car accident when you know you should just drive by. The blonde smiled lustfully, pleased to finally have his attention, and felt her way up his arms; she shook her hips to the music a little for him and felt his chest as well.

Then Vince seemed to realize eyes were on him. He looked over and met Gabe's look and that's when she _really_ wanted to look away. She didn't want him to see the sadness in her eyes, but she couldn't tear away from his piercing gaze. He eventually dropped his eyes with a crestfallen look and dropped his hand away from the girl, too. The blonde tried her best to recapture his interest but he brushed her hands away, picked up his beer, and leaned forward to rest his head in his hands, scrubbing his hands through his hair.

Gabe finally pried her eyes away and got Leon to drive her home.

"I'm sorry to pull you away…"

"Don't worry about it…not looking for a chaser anyway. Got a second date with Alicia. Speaking of dates, you and Mason were getting pretty cozy," he smile knowingly.

"I told him I wasn't ready. Unfortunately, it's true"

"You don't need to be ready right now. Or ever, if you and Vince are getting back together"

Gabe ignored the last comment and dropped her head back against the seat, thinking about Mason. He was a nice guy and engaging; he was _totally_ hot, that's for sure. Part of her very much wished she wasn't hung up on Vince because hanging around Mason a little longer could've proved very fun. It just wasn't…right. Mason was a little taller and little slimmer, so he felt different. He was handsome in the way that still might suggest he was a "bad boy" but he wasn't as rugged as Vince. He had a little bit of facial hair but it was a sparse goatee that he might not intend to be permanent; he had closely shaved hair, as well, which wouldn't give her anything to dig her fingers into…..

He just wasn't the man she wanted to be having a make-out session with.

Too bad the person she would love to be kissing had just had his hands on another woman, contemplating sneaking up her skirt.

He'd had the grace to seem guilty about it, though, which was kind of nice.

* * *

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	12. Need It

**So this isn't the original Chapter 12....there was another chapter before this but it was short and not necessary so i got rid of it....so hopefully this isn't too abrupt.....  
****We shall see  
Enjoy**

**Need It  
**_I'll do whatever it takes  
__To turn this around  
__I know what's at stake  
__I know that I've let you down  
__And if you give me a chance  
__Believe that I can change  
__I'll keep us together whatever it takes  
__**-Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse**_

"Jess, where's Vince been?" Leon asked quietly, bent over to study an engine with his friend.

"Dunno," Jesse shrugged carelessly.

"Yo, Dom, where's V at?" Leon called over to his bald boss.

"Don't worry about it," Dom called back, eyes fixed on his work.

"He wasn't around yesterday either, bro; maybe it's about time we start worrying," Leon insisted, since he knew how Vince could be and didn't want him to do something stupid; it was Friday afternoon and he hadn't seen Vince at all the previous day, either.

"He has some things to take care of. I'm sure he'll tell you later," Dom dismissed, giving Leon a look the clearly told him not to push it.

"Alright, alright," Leon muttered quietly. "Guess I'm inviting Gabe over this weekend."

"Right on," Jesse nodded. "Katie's spending the whole weekend at the fort. She's got a little homework but I told her I'd leave her alone long enough to get it done."

"Nice"

* * *

It was a Saturday night and Gabe was letting herself back into the apartment after a study break that she felt was well deserved. She had a big paper to finish for the next week and her first test for one of her classes coming up to study for. Because of these things, she was taking advantage of all three of her roommates being gone and devoting her weekend to work. She took periodic breaks but otherwise had been working very steadily. Leon had convinced her to go out with him, Jesse, Katie, Dom, Letty, and Mia on Friday night but she'd told him firmly not to try and get her away from work for the rest of her weekend.

It was moderately late now but she figured it was completely feasible to read for just a little bit before putting in a movie and calling it a night. The girls down the hall she had been lounging with were going to a party, so she had no temptations to go down to their apartment and stay out late; she was good.

She was maybe a page or two through some review notes, music playing softly, when she heard knocking. She froze and sat there for a few minutes until she heard it again out on the main door. Slowly, she stood and padded out of her room, which was off of the living room, and through the main area to the door, which she opened slowly.

Justifiably, she was shocked to find Vince standing outside her door, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his dark jeans. They both just stood there and she took in his black button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up past his elbows; then she noticed that his dark jeans were very nice dark jeans that she'd never seen before. After this she noticed his closer, cleaner shave and the desperate look in his eyes.

She didn't understand.

"Ummm…do you want to come in?" she asked once she got over the surprise and confusion; it was only after the words left her moth that she realized it was stupid -- he wouldn't be there if he didn't want to come in.

Vince nodded and she stepped aside, pulling the door with her, to let him in. He trekked in without a word and looked around a moment, having never been in the apartment before.

"Vince, what're you doing here?" she asked once she'd shut the door, leaning against it with arms crossed.

She was having a good weekend so far and Vince was most certainly counted as a distraction; a bad one. On the other hand, she was curious because Leon claimed he hadn't seen Vince since Wednesday night.

"I was scared…." he blurted out, not facing her.

"What?" Gabe frowned; that answered nothing.

"After Tran tracked us down," he clarified, turning around, staring at a bar stool.

Gabe blinked in surprise, unsure exactly what was coming. She was fairly certain that this was her explanation, though --- the one she'd been waiting for.

"I feel liked I dragged you into something horrible and dangerous. I mean, I didn't….I didn't really care how many guys were beating me down. All I could think was that something could happen to you and I couldn't do anything about it, and that scared the shit outta me. I didn't fuck that girl, Gabe, I swear to God I didn't," he promised, his rough voice pleading and hard to hear. "I just knew it would hurt enough to keep you away…"

"…why?" she whispered, close to tears.

"Cuz I'm bad for you"

"…no…"

"No one would be threatening you if it weren't for me. Guns, heists, people ganging up on you in a parking lot…you deserve better than that shit. It's not right. I ruined everything but I thought you'd be better of without me…" he explained, face blank as he stared at the ground.

"You shouldn't have made that decision for me," she whispered.

"I know. I know that now," he agreed. "I feel like I've been freaking out all the time; wonderin' where you are, if you're okay. And I know it's harder on you, not even knowing why I did this; I'm not supposed to hurt you….. but I did, and I'm sorry."

Gabe blinked back tears and just stared at him. She had yet to move but she wanted to go to him. It made sense. He'd gone about it all wrong, but his thoughts were founded. Still, there was something more; something wasn't fitting into this.

"…that still doesn't explain why you're here or where you've been," she reminded him.

He nodded and finally pulled his hands from his pockets to burry them into his hair. He turned and sat heavily on the couch, head hung in his hands, and then stood back up. Pacing around a little bit, confusion and agitation oozed from him.

"…are you in trouble?"

He stopped and his face still looked as lost as it had when she opened the door on him.

"My dad died," he finally explained. "I just came back from the funeral."

Gabe's lips formed an "oh" without making a sound and her arms dropped to her sides.

"Vince, I'm sorry," she empathized.

He just shook his head and ran both of his hands over his face and into his hair once again.

"You don't get it…"

Gabe watched him sadly and finally left the door to approach him.

"I know I've never---"

"No, you _really_ don't understand. I hardly cared. My Uncle called me and I didn't feel…anything."

"Oh, Vince…"

She was lost for any real words and she reached for his arm but he stepped back just enough to escape her hand, just the tips of her fingers brushing against his forearm.

"That man," he shook his head, a flustered, humorless half-grin somehow making it to his face, "made my life hell for years; I mean, my mom didn't even go to the funeral. He's still my dad though, right? I should feel _some_thing… … … it makes me just as bad as him," he finished in a hushed tone..

"Vince, don't say that; you'd never be the way he was"

"I came over because _you_ make me feel something," he explained, eyes brimming with tears he refused to shed.

Gabrielle opened and then closed her mouth a couple times, her own eyes shining; she didn't know what to say to something like that. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly when he stepped back to her and pulled his fingers through some of her hair. He took another step to her before she realized it and they were dangerously close. And then his lips brushed hers.

It was like warmth spread everywhere from her lips. He stopped but they remained where they were, neither moving away. After what seemed like an eternity, Vince cupped her face and brought their lips together again in a soft, slow kiss. Tears leaked from her eyes and he wiped them away when they touched his fingers.

"I don't want to feel nothing," he whispered in her ear, breath hot on her skin before he began to kiss and suck her neck gently. "I need to feel something…"

Gabe covered his hands with hers and slowly trailed her hands up his arms and around his back, small fingers digging at his shirt. He dropped a hand down her body slowly to circle around her waist, pulling her the rest of the way to him so their bodies were touching completely. His hand slipped up the back of her shirt, open-palmed on the dip of her back, and she moaned softly and contentedly. The hand left on her cheek slowly pushed its way into her hair and he broke the kiss to pull back slightly and just look at her. She stared back for a few moments and leaned up a little to plant a small kiss on his throat, trailing the kisses down the base of his throat and as far as she could get down his chest, unbuttoning one button only to find a black beater.

She was a little disappointed by this but he was quick to distract her, turning his attention to _her_ throat now. He knew exactly what he was doing with his mouth and his short stubble scraped lightly wherever his mouth chose to go. She sighed longingly and laced her fingers into his hair; it was amazing to think she'd almost forgotten what this felt like.

She gasped in surprise when she hadn't noticed his hands travel lower and he picked her up, hands under her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist quickly, hands on his muscled shoulders. Their mouths played together again until he sat on the couch and nestled his face between her breasts, holding her tightly. He'd gotten pretty hard by this time and she could feel him though the thin cotton of her pajama pants. He noticed this too and pushed her away from his hips quickly, tilting his head back up to kiss her frowned inwardly and settled her hips directly over his once more. Arms around his neck, she rocked her hips into him, getting a groan out of him and she bit her lip to keep in her own moan. She did this again and he moved with her until they were both panting lightly with groans and gasps, and he finally stilled them both.

"Gabe, we don't have to," he breathed. "I mean….I didn't mean to…"

"I know. It's okay," she reassured him. "Just, uh…hold that thought. Don't go anywhere…"

She got out of his lap and walked across the room on weak legs. In the bathroom, she opened and closed every drawer quickly, and slipped over into Nicole's room when she didn't find what she was looking for. Nicole had once announced she kept hers under her bed for easy access. She pulled open one of the stackable drawers Nicole had fitted under her bed and found tampons, birth control, and, (eureka!) condoms. The box was near full, so it wouldn't be noticeable that Gabe was stealing one.

She stopped in her friend's doorway, watching Vince from where he couldn't see her. He was running his hands through his hair again, his most obvious nervous habit. He still seemed a little confused and her heart ached a little for him. She looked down and fingered the condom wrapper in her hand. Part of her was telling her she could very well be regretting this tomorrow, reminding herself that he'd hurt her; no matter his intentions, leaving was leaving….right? Was he only here because he was hurting and looking for comfort, or was it more? After all, he'd explained himself and apologized; the look in his eyes alone told it was a heartfelt one. Was she going to do this tonight and reattach herself only to be let down? But he'd come over and put himself out there with the potential of being badly burned, so she could do the same. This was his chance to change what he'd done; she could give him that. If it didn't work out again, that would have to be a sign.

She watched as he adjusted his pants uncomfortably and she let the corners of her lips tip up, slipping the condom into her pocket.

She approached the couch and had his immediate attention as she stepped between his legs. He looked up into her eyes and trailed his hands up her legs to the bottom of her shirt and began to push it up, standing slowly to pull it all the way off and drop it aside. He just stared down at her and she smiled, taking his hands to guide him into her room. He cupped her face to kiss her again and she started to unbutton his shirt, working from top to bottom. Once his shirt was open, she pushed her hands up from his waist, over his abs, chest, and shoulders to push the shirt away. His hands left her face but the kiss never broke as he helped her remove the shirt, dropping it to the floor behind him.

His arms encircled her again and he kicked his shoes off deftly and her hands went up the back of his undershirt to feel his strong back. An intense longing was building in her and she almost whimpered in need as he pressed himself, hard and waiting, against her lower stomach. She moved her hands back around his sides and stripped his shirt up and away from his body to reveal his hard chest and defined abdomen. The shirt broke their kiss and he brought his lips to her neck, maneuvering them to the bed and lowering her onto it with exquisite care. Arms still around her, he worked her bra open and pulled the pink satin away.

He stared down at her for a few long seconds before lowering himself to the soft mounds and she arched into him, pulling his head closer. His short beard scraped her sensitive skin and her ragged breath hitched, continuing erratically.

When he returned his mouth to hers, he was untying the string of her pants. Somehow, he knowingly fished the condom from her pocket and slapped it onto the nightstand before removing her pants. He slid back up her body and pressed his bare chest to hers, pinning her to the mattress. His hands found their way up her back and under her shoulder to dig into her hair as he kissed her.

"Tell me you want this," he whispered huskily, mouth next to her ear.

"Of course I do. I want you so much… … …I need you"

She wasn't sure if she actually meant to say this last part but now she had and she couldn't take it back.

"I need us to work," he, too, confessed, kissing her earlobe.

She nodded and they didn't need to talk anymore. She undid his pants and he removed them, freeing his straining erection, but he seemed in no hurry to do anything. He brushed her hands away from his stiff member, and he took time just staring at her and taking her in or caressing her slowly.

Once he finally got around to the condom and actually got settled perfectly between her legs, he just held himself above her. She was ready for him and the whole of his considerable erection against the innermost part of her thigh was almost enough to drive her crazy. He drug his thumb over her lips, which were slightly parted, and then ducked to kiss her long and slow. So much emotion flooded the kiss and he held her so perfectly that a tear leaked from Gabe's eye, which Vince simply swiped away, seeming to understand. The kiss continued and he slowly entered her completely.

It was quite possibly the most passionate night they'd spent together.

Gabe began drifting off when they were curled up under the covers later but Vince, despite the past few days he'd had, wasn't falling asleep so fast. He held her and was almost consistently running his hands through her hair, dragging a finger across her cheek, or kissing her face softly. It took her a while to fall asleep this way but it was the most satisfying way to be kept awake. She gave him complementary kisses in return at first but stopped as she got more tired, but he didn't seem to mind and just moved her closer, resting his head next to hers to finally sleep.

TFATF

Gabe was the first to wake up the next morning and she watched Vince through heavy lids as she woke up more and more. His arm still held her waist and his leg was over hers; thinking about it, she was surprised she hadn't move at all during the night. It was late in the morning but she remained in bed as long as she could before she grew restless. Ever so lightly, she brushed a kiss to his lips and began trying to sneak out, lifting his arm and sliding her legs back.

No luck.

"Where ya goin'?" he mumbled, voice groggy from sleep, as he tightened his arm to pull her back.

"I'll make breakfast," she decided.

"Nah, you don't have to," he shook his head.

"But I want to…aren't you hungry?"

"Yea," he nodded ruefully, slacking his limbs around her.

"Good, because I am and I can't stay in bed anymore," she smiled, untangling herself from him and climbing over him to get out of the small, school-issued bed.

She pulled on her pants from the previous night and found a new shirt before she ventured out. Her shirt from yesterday was still sitting in the living room and she picked it up with a blush, glad no one was coming back until the afternoon. She tossed it into her room and dug around, deciding on bacon and eggs with toast; simple but good, with enough aroma to get Vince out of bed and to the bar without her having to go coax him. He got his own milk and then sat down almost right on time, eggs over-easy just the way he liked them.

"You're amazing," he thanked her, taking the plate to dig in.

She smiled and sat down next to him a few minutes later to eat. He was done before her and she watched him carefully as his hand once again messed up his hair agitatedly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, cupping his cheek to turn him to face her.

"Yea," he nodded and turned his head to kiss the inside of her wrist.

She wasn't totally convinced but nodded and did the dishes once they were both done, all under Vince's watchful eye.

"If I take a shower, are you still gonna be here when I get out?" she questioned.

He nodded and then, short moments after the water was running, the door opened.

"Am I invited?"

"….sure," she agreed after a moment's thought, peeking around the curtain to see him stripping off the beater and jeans.

They washed each other and when it came to washing his hair, he lowered himself to his knees and wrapped his arms around her hips to nuzzled the soft skin of her taut stomach. Surprised, she took her time soaping up his hair, pulling him to his feet so he could rinse it himself. In the tight confines of the small shower, their bodies rubbed together when they switched places, and she took it upon herself to shut the water off behind him when he was done, molding herself against him in the process. He dropped a single kiss to her neck and then let his breath play over her damp skin until she stepped back, wrapping her towel around herself and getting one for him as well.

Gabe redressed in her room and then dried her hair in the bathroom. When she returned to her room, Vince was asleep on his stomach on the bed, back in the jeans and beater. His arms hugged the pillow closely and his face was so peaceful; she gave no thought to waking him and let him sleep while she started doing work again. She sat at her desk and turned her music on quietly, working diligently.

Katie was the first one home and got into the apartment before Gabrielle registered she had news to share. By the time Gabe jumped up, Katie could see Vince from the middle of the living room, where she was standing frozen in shock.

"Hey," Gabrielle greeted quickly, pulling the door almost shut behind her.

"Yea, hey…now I know why you were happy to have the place to yourself. What gives?"

"No, I didn't know he was coming. He just showed up kindda late last night," Gabe whispered, following Katie into her room.

"Okay. And?"

"And…he told me why he did what he did…"

"Finally! Ugh. So?"

"So…look, don't tell"

"Promise," Katie nodded.

"Okay…he said he got freaked out after that whole thing with Johnny Tran. He was afraid I'd get in trouble or hurt just because I hung around with him, and I'd be better off if we were apart"

"Yea, apart so he can't protect you. He's a genius," Katie scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well that's the thing. He can't protect me _all _the time and he was scared because he actually cared," Gabe explained.

"Well I guess it makes sense…and it _is_ his fault if you'd get hurt from whatever him and Dom, or whoever, are into," Katie nodded.

"That's the only problem I have with it. I'm friends with everybody else anyway, so I'm still associated"

"Yea, but didn't you say Johnny followed the two of you out there? It's probably something to do with that; then he threatened you, so you got targeted specifically and it has nothing to do with you," Katie reasoned out.

"That's true"

"Yea…that whole thing kindda freaked everyone out. I know Jesse was nervous; we didn't go out for a while. And I mean, I love Jesse…but I don't think he could take a beating quite like Vince," Katie cringed.

"No kidding," Gabe agreed.

"So he just spent the night?"

"….yea," Gabe nodded.

"Uh-huh…so where's he been all week? Getting up the balls to come talk to you?"

"…promise not to tell again?"

"Duh!" Katie groaned exasperatedly.

"It's just cuz I think Dom's the only one who knows because Leon and Jess didn't even know….his dad died."

"Oh my God," Katie gasped sadly. "Well why didn't anyone go to the funeral with him? Dom, at least; they've been friends forever. Dom must know his dad…"

"That's the thing. Vince's dad….really sucked," she explained vaguely in a whisper. "He moved in with the Toretto's for a while in high school until his parents got divorced and then moved back a while after they'd graduated and his mom moved. So he didn't know how he felt, but the funeral was yesterday."

"Oooooh," Katie nodded. "Definitely won't tell."

"Yea…I'm sure he'll tell Leon and Jesse but he probably just wanted to get through it first."

"So it's on the hush. Got it," Katie nodded, plopping onto her bed. "So how much work did you get done with him here?"  
"Quite a bit. I did a lot yesterday and he'd been sleeping since breakfast so I've just studied and stuff. Works for me."

"Alright. What're we doing for dinner?" Katie asked, expertly putting the conversation behind them.

"Anything"

Gabe didn't care and went back to her room to finish up that paper and then maybe take a break. The paper was printing when Vince finally spoke, though he was probably awake for a while beforehand.

"So who's Mason?"

Gabe started and turned in her chair to see his eyes open.

"Mason?"

"Leon said that was the guy's name from last week; saw him in Harry's and him and Leon got all buddy-buddy."

"Oh, umm…yea, he's in my psychology class," she nodded.

"And?"

"…and nothing. I didn't even know he ever went to races before that night. I was talking to him when the cops showed up so I rode back to the house with him and invited him inside."

"Where he kissed you," Vince reminded her.

"Yes and I stopped him. Inside is also where you had your hands on a girl," _she_ reminded _him_, waiting.

"Right…there hasn't been anyone else besides you, if that's what you're wondering," he informed her, pushing himself to sit up and run a hand tiredly over his face.

She nodded and grabbed her paper distractedly, watching him closely to see what came next.

"I should probably get going," he eventually announced, sounding kind of reluctant.

"You don't have to if you don't want," she offered, watching him mull that over quickly.

"No, I really should. Dom called me at least a dozen times yesterday and I just ignored them all. He offered to come to the funeral, but I didn't want him to"

"I'm sure he understands"

"Yea, he gets it," Vince nodded and got up to put on his shoes and grab his dress shirt.

"I'll walk you out"

They left the apartment and he took her hand in his as they walked down the hall and across the parking lot to his car.

"Soooo, call me, if you need anything…or if you don't," she finished lamely with a small smile.

"Yea, I will…am I gonna see you around?"

"Probably. I'm working this week and I'm sure I'll be around the house sometime"

He nodded and ducked to kiss her slowly, delving his tongue deeply for a moment before pulling away and letting her step aside so he could get in.

"See you"

He waved and took off once she headed back to the building.

"Kissing!" Someone shrieked across the parking lot.

Gabrielle turned and Hayley was hurrying over with a laughing Nicole. She couldn't help but laugh a little, too, though hers was a someone embarrassed one. But maybe she didn't need to be embarrassed; hopefully things were changing.

* * *

**REVIEW!**

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